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LELAND MILLER 


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Bits of Sunshine 



BY 

Clarence Leland Miller 



THE 

Bbbcy press 

PUBLISHERS 

114 

FIFTH AVENUE 

LONDON NEW YORK M0NTRE4L 





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THE LIBRARY ©F 


eONGKESS, 








Two C -IBS Receives 








iAR. 211 1902 








COPYRieMT ENTOV 

Ct.A®3 Cb XXa. No. 














7 ^^ v 
oof='Y a. 








Copyright, rgoi, 




by 








THE 








Bbbes Ipress 









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Bits of Sunshine 

for 

Bertha Blessing Miller 



BITS OF SUNSHINE 



Contents 



The Beautiful Sunlight 

Commission of Truth 

Friendship 

If Thou Lovs't Me 

Forget-me-not 

Constancy 

The Brooklet 

(Prom the German) 
A Vision 
Whither 
Boat Song 

Earl King 
(From the German) 

As Sunshine 

The Butterfly 

Wayside Thoughts 

Indian Song 

A Message 

Taps 

Kismat , 



PAGE 

I 

4 

9 

II 

13 

16 

19 

20 
23 

25 

28 

31 
33 
37 
39 
43 
45 
49 



Contents 

PAGE 

May 50 

(Prom the German) 

The North Countree 51 

Two Almonds 53 

Rue and Roses 56 

Song of Spring 59 

O, Love Forever 62 

(From the German) 

The Rose 65 

The Angel of Patience 71 

To Arms 72 

Work 76 

My Love 81 

(From the German) 

The Ship 83 

'Twas but a Glimpse 88 

Washington 90 

Thou 92 

The Castle by the Sea 93 

(From the German) 

Milestones 95 

Resurrection 97 

Opportunity 100 

Love Enough loi 

Lorelei 103 

(Prom the German) 

Seven Times 105 

Similitudes - . 108 

There's a Softness . . , . . . .110 



Contents 



PAGE 

Tell Me m 

The Broken Ring 114 

(From the German) 

Giving 116 

Belated jj8 

The Violin 120 

Blessings J23 

CFrom the German) 

A Brownbird J24 

St. Valentine .128 

Little Sweetheart 131 

Mother , . I'X'x 

The Rose's Message . . ' . , . .137 

The Lover's Plaint 135 

The Plague 14 j 



HEARTSEASE 

Contents 

PAGE 

Heartsease 151 

The Ways 153 

Something New 157 

Easter • 160 

Of all the Phrases 165 

Apple Blossoms 167 

Sleep On 170 

(Prom the German) 

Someone 172 

" O, Poor of the Flock" 175 

When Days are Drear 181 

Found 183 

(From the German) 

Matin 184 

Kisses 187 

If Hearts be Tnie 189 

In Springtime 193 

Evening Song 195 

(From the German) 

The Fern ..,,,,.. 197 



Contents 

PAGE 

The Reason . . . 200 

Buttercups 202 

My Sweetheart 204 

Regret 208 

(Prom the German) 

Arbutus 210 

Rubies 213 

Voyaging 215 

Weeds 218 

Lilacs 219 

Adown the Olden Ages 223 

(From the German) 

Home 225 

" With Her Hands " 228 

Blessing 230 

Thorns and Thistles 231 

Remorse 234 

The Ring . . . . . . . . 236 

(From the German) 

Unseen Forces 239 

Bolts and Bars 242 

Hope 247 

Some Peace 248 

September 250 

The Grave 252 

(From the German) 

Press On 254 

The Bluebird 256 

Little Feet ........ 259 



Contents 

PAGE 

The Best Love . 261 

Mignon 263 

(From the German) 

A Face 265 

Roses 267 

A Gift 268 

Bon Voyage . . . . . . . . 270 

The Minstrel's Curse 272 

(Prom the German) 

Patient Endurance 281 

The Lily 283 

Hush-a-by 285 

Rest 287 

(From the German) 

The Oak 288 

Violet 290 

Betrothal 292 

A Pansy 293 

Lullaby 295 

Little Mother 297 

Serenade 299 

Slumber Song . .301 

Twilight 303 

Promise 306 



BITS OF SUNSHINE 

THE BEAUTIFUL SUNLIGHT. 

The beautiful sunlight! How warm are its 

beams 
On the wall ! How it shimmers and gleams ; 
A promise it gives of the summer's bright 

dawn; 
When the snows have departed from meadow 

and lawn ; 
"When the spring-bird returns to this far 

northern clime, 
To nest, and be happy the whole summer time, 



2 Bits of Sunshine 

The beautiful sunlight! How softly it shines, 
On the head of the one who in anguish repines; 
Like the voice of the Father its message comes 

low; 
" Have faith, and the doubts, that perplex thee, 

shall go ; 
Have faith for in Heaven is full recompense 
For all that we bear of this world's negligence." 

The beautiful sunlight! How fair is its glow; 
How swiftly it melteth the long winter's snow ! 
A week or so more and the birds will be here, 
A month and the flowers will bloom without 

fear; 
And the earth will awake with a smile on its 

face, 
Like the smile of the Lord, full of infinite grace. 



The Beautiful Sunlight 3 

Oh beautiful sunlight, so yellow and warm — 
A giver of life to all manner of form, 
Shine down in my soul, shine deep in my heart ; 
Till the darkness and gloam, that are present, 

depart ; 
Till the flowers of promise shall spring up in 

bloom 
And fill with their fragrance what erstwhile 

was gloom. 

Let thy warmth be a token of Heaven above. 
With its glorious, beautiful sunshine of love ;> 
With the love that Jehovah extendeth to all 
The children of earth, whatsoever befall — 
The love that o'ershadows the sea and the land ; 
And holdeth the world in the palm of His 
hand. 



COMMISSION OF TRUTH. 

When God was about to create 
Mankind in His image divine, 

The angels, in throng about Him, 
Thus questioned His great design : 

" Create a being — some said — Oh God, 
To sing Thee eternal praise, 

As we, the chosen of Heaven, 
Forever Thy glory upraise." 

But others prayed — " Oh Father, 

Desist and create no more ; 
For man will shatter Thy best laid plan, 

And crimson the earth with gore." 



Commission of Truth i 

Then silence shadowed the regal host. 

Like that of a waveless sea, 
As Mercy approached the great white throne, 

And besought from bended knee : 

" Oh Father, create Thou man — she said — 

In Thine own image true; 
Let all the virtues, that Thou possess't, 

Be his possession too. 

" For then will I fashion a brotherhood, 

Akin from sympathy ; 
And man from man shall learn to know 

That the praise belongs to Thee." 

And then though the voice of Mercy, 

Was sated with cheerfulness, 
The angel of Peace, with tearful eye, 

Thus pleaded in sore distress: 



6 Bits of Sunshine 

" Create him not, Oh God — she cried — 

All horrors will he release; 
And never again shall Thy kingdom know 

One moment of rest or peace," 

Then spake the angel of Justice, 

In accents stern and cold ; 
" Create — and the souls of thousands 

In judgment Thou shalt hold. 

" For Thou canst conquer his passion. 

His wilfulness subdue; 
And every day shall he learn to pray, 

And the paths of right pursue." 

The angel of Truth then knelt at the throne, 
And spake to the King of kings : 

" Forbear, Oh God, and cease Thy works, 
The pendulum backward swings. 



Commission of Truth 7 

" If man doth visit this world of Thine, 

And lives for a spell therein, 
With him will he take the accursed form 

Of Falsehood, steeped in sin." 

She ceased — and a deep hush fell 

O'er the many-minded throng; 
As forth from the throne, the Father s voice 
Thus righted the seeming wrong: 

" But thou, Oh Truth, shalt go with him, 

And hover above his head ; 
And with the counsels, that thou dost give, 

His nature shall be fed. 

And every fate, that is his below, 

Is thine own destiny; 
For thou must serve as a chain of gold, 

To fasten his soul to Me." 



8 Bits of Sunshine 

Forthwith a song, by the minstrel throng, 

Was sung about the throne; 
" All glory, and honor in Heaven and earth 

Is Thine, Oh Father, alone." 



FRIENDSHIP. 

The worth of one true friend, 

On whom the heart may oft depend, 

In sorrow, pain or pleasure, 
Is far above the jewel's gleam. 
The virgin gold in rock-bound seam, 

The choicest earthly treasure. 

How good it is to know, 

When round us fall the shades of woe, 

One heart still sympathises! 

Riches, health and joy may flee, 

Our lives become of base degree. 

Yet still this one suffices. 
9 



lo Bits of Sunshine 

In secret counsel, sweet, 

Our hearts, our souls, our lives may meet 

In friendship's close communion; 
By mutual strength, we grow more strong, 
To battle 'gainst the hordes of wrong. 

Arrayed for our disunion. 

Weak are the ties of earth, 

But friendship's are of greater worth. 

Resisting force to sever ; 
For death but adds another link. 
To reach across the beetling brink 

Unto the great Forever. 



IF THOU LOV'ST ME. 

Tho' discomfort us o'ermasters, 
With a thousand dark disasters, 
If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 

Be it June, or bleak December, 
Let thy heart it aye remember, 
• If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 

Swiftly time is by us fleeting, 
Short must be our days of meeting, 
If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 

If thou lov'st me, tell me, dearest, 

Prove thyself of all sincerest, 

If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 
II 



12 Bits of Sunshine 

Truth on earth in heaven liveth. 

Love of soul contentment giveth, 

If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 

Tell me, that in grief or glory, 
Thou shalt not forget the story, 
If thou lov'st me tell me so. 

Tell me, that when death o'ertake me, 
Love of thine shall not forsake me, 
If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 

Tell me, that thy heart grow fonder, 
At remembrance, over yonder, 
If thou lov'st me, tell me so. 



FORGET-ME-NOT. 

'Neath the shadow of the trees, 
Where the sunshine never sees 
To illume the silent leas; 

Save fitful gleams, 

And wayward beams 
Of the molten, golden streams. 
Dancing through the verdant seams, 

Grows the frail forget-me-not. 

On the border of a stream. 
Dark and silent as a dream, 
Where the rugged maples seem 

The guarders placed, 

To check the waste 

Of the vandal, eager-faced, 
13 



14 Bits of Sunshine 

Trampling o'er in reckless haste, 

Blooms the sweet forget-me-not. 

*Mong the reeds upon the brink, 
Where the wood-birds coyly shrink 
From the water as they drink. 

Secured from harrn, 

And all alarm. 
In the circle of the charm, 
That pervades the quiet farm, 

Smiles the blue forget-me-not. 

Whether cold or whether warm. 
Whether calm, or whether storm 
And the dun clouds swirl and swarm; 

Yet still abloom, 

Within the gloom. 
Darkling fast the leafy loom. 
Weaving figures dull as doom. 

Bides the fair forget-me-not. 



Forget-Me-Not 15 

Who can look upon her face, 
Modest, fair and full of grace, 
Shrinking from the wind's embrace; 

And then forget 

The eyes so wet 
Of the fairy, he has met, 
Pleading, pleading, pleading yet, 

" Wayward one, forget me not." 

Would the world would heed the voice, 
And consent to make the choice. 
That the sad one might rejoice, 

And plead no more. 

Upon the shore. 
Of the brook, with pebbled floor, 
That the shadows tremble o'er, 

" Froward one, forget me not." 



CONSTANCY. 

Do things last 
Longer than a day ; 

Fleet they past, 
Never more to stay ? 

No, no, no ! 
Shineth not the sun 

With a glow, 
Fair as when begun? 

And the moon. 

And the stars of night, 

Will they soon 

Be despoiled of light? 
i6 



Constancy 1 7 

No, no, no ! 
They will last for aye; 

They'll stay so, 
Till the judgment day. 

If the Lord 
Fashioned them so true, 

What reward, 
Should us less ensue? 

Faith is strong, 
Stronger far than clay, 

'Twill live long 
Past the judgment day. 

And the love, 
That is here so new, 

Will above 
Hold us just as true. 



i8 Bits of Sunshine 

Things do last 
Longer than a day, 

And the past 
Shall not fade away. 



THE BROOKLET. 

(Das Bachlein, von Goethe.) 

Thou brooklet, silver-clear and bright, 
That speedest on with all thy might, 
From thee alone this would I know. 
Whence art thou come ? Where dost thou go ? 

From haunts of gloomy rocks I glance; 
Thro' moss and reeds my ripples dance, 
And on my breast, with gentleness, 
I hold the heaven's soft caress. 

Hence is my heart devoid of care; 

I wander on, I list not where ; 

Who called me forth to join the sea 

He will, I trust, my pilot be. 
19 



A VISION. 

Full my heart was filled with sorrow, 
As I vainly sought to borrow 

Joy from out the styglan gloom; 
When a maiden stood before me, 
Sadly yearning to restore me; 
And a sense of peace stole o'er me, 

Like an exquisite perfume. 

Nearer came the airy vision, 
Half in doubt and half precision 

With an undulating grace; 
Till the lilies glistened whiter, 
And the roses gleamed yet brighter, 
And her eyes appeared far lighter 

Than the lustrous stars of space. 

20 



A Vision 21 

Long I pondered, why her seeming 
Should invade my midnight dreaming 

Of the future dull and drear — 
Whether came the beauteous vision, 
From enchanted reahns elysian, 
Or abodes of dark attrition, 

Ruled by grisly, gaunt-eyed fear — 

Till I knew the visioned maiden. 
From the distant land of Aidenn, 

Was the trothed one of my soul, 
Come to brighten my seclusion; 
End the pessimist's delusion, 
That existence is confusion, 

And this world a world of dole. 

Ah, I would that she were nigher, 
And her heart could feel the fire, 

Bright with many a glow and gleam; 



22 Bits of Sunshine 

But, alas, the mock derision, 
For the light and lissom vision, 
From the fabled land elysian, 
Was a transitory dream. 

Yes, a dream — a shadow fleeting, 
Ere she heard me her entreating 

Ever present to remain; 
But despite the seers of ages, 
Who decry it in their pages, 
There is something that presages, 

She shall come to me again. 

Not a fancy to me stealing. 
To beguile me into feeling. 

Then to vanish in the gloom ; 
But a living, breathing maiden, 
From the fairyland of Aidenn, 
With a thousand roses laden, 

And ambrosial bud and bloom. 



INDIAN SONG. 

Dost thou ask me, nonamoosha, 
When my love for thee is bold ? 

When no storms, my nonamoosha, 
Can my love turn dark and cold ? 

Hear, oh hear me, nonamoosha ! 
Hear the answer that I give; 

That I give thee, nonamoosha, 
Tho' the years are long I live. 

I will love thee, nonamoosha. 
In the moon of leaves, segwun ; 

When the earth, my nonamoosha. 
Grows respondent to the sun; 

39 



40 Bits of Sunshine 

Then, my fairest nonamoosha, 
I will love thee fond and true ; 

I will love thee, nonamoosha 
As the red men only do. 

I will love thee, nonamoosha. 
When the earth is green in June; 

And the trees, my nonamoosha, 
Play a gentle, leafy tune; 

Then I'll love thee, nonamoosha, 
In the bright and sunny dale ; 

Then I'll love thee, nonamoosha, 
With a love that can not fail. 

I will love thee, nonamoosha, 
In the moon of falling leaves ; 

When the wind, my nonamoosha. 
Thro' the forests sighs and grieves; 



Indian Song 41 

Then, my laughing nonamoosha, 
I will love thee more than ever ; 

I will love thee, nonamoosha, 
With my fondest heart's endeavor. 

I will love thee, nonamoosha, 
When the snow is on the ground; 

And the streams, my nonamoosha, 
Are with icy fetters bound; 

Then, I'll love thee, nonamoosha, 
Tho' the wild winds round us roar. 

Then, I'll love thee, nonamoosha, 
As I loved thee not before. 

I will love thee, nonamoosha, 
Tho' the birds have come and flown ; 

I will love thee, nonamoosha, 
Till thou come and be my own ; 



42 Bits of Sunshine 

Till thou come, my nonamoosha, 
With the music of thy voice ; 

With the miUsic, nonamoosha, 
That shall make my heart rejoice. 

This, oh, this, my nonamoosha. 
Is the answer that I give; 

That I give thee, nonamoosha, 
Tho' the years are long I live ; 

Tho' I live, my nonamoosha, 
Till the shades of life are due ; 

I will love thee, nonamoosha, 
I will love thee fond and true. 



A MESSAGE. 

Tho' absent, I would cheer thee, 
Upon this Easter morn; 
Because I know 
The grief would go, 
That makes thee so forlorn. 

Who knows a word's perfection, 
Who knows what it may do? 
For one and all, 
Where'er they fall, 
With weal or woe imbue. 

A deed by thee, tho' careless, 

May prove of consequence; 

If every thought. 

With prudence fraught, 

Is born of innocence. 
43 



44 Bits of Sunshine 

Be chary of thy moments, 

Waste neither word nor smile; 
And this proclaim 
To be thy aim, 
To light the world's exile. 



TAPS. 

Love, good night ! 

May thy dreams 
Be as fair as the moon's 

Silver beams ! 
Fare thee well, till the morn 

Early gleams ! 



45 



KISMAT. 

I met a girl with cheeks of red, 

And lips of carmine hue; 
A face so fair as hers, I wis, 

Could never prove untrue. 

A thousand graces, pure and chaste, 
Appeared within her blended, 

As in the fabled forms of yore. 
That to the earth descended. 

Ay, virtue is a royal gift, 

The passport of the soul, 

From heart to heart, the world around, 

Wherever one may stroll. 
46 



Kismat 47 

Alas, as strangers were we then, 

As strangers are we yet ; 
Tho' in my dreams there flits a face, 

I never can forget. 

The very eyes of depthless hue, 
That glanced within mine own, 

Still haunt the chambers of my heart, 
And dwell there all alone, v 

Ah, it is always hard to bear 

The fickleness of fate ; 
When for each pleasure given us, 

Ten others dissipate. 

How often melt our hopes away. 

As snows beneath the sun ; 
And leave no token to reveal 

Our feelings sore undone. 



48 Bits of Sunshine 

Oh would we were not so enslaved, 

By accident of birth ; 
Nor gave allegiance to the forms, 

And mummeries of earth. 

For then our lives might cross again, 

Or better still unite, 
And one in heart, and soul, and flesh 

Eke out each chance delight. 

But futile are such vain desires, 
We never more shall meet ; 

For fortune changes not one jot. 
Though all the world entreat. 

Life meeteth life, each passing day, 
Like ships upon the sea — 

A word, a smile, and then they pass 
For all eternity. 



Kismat 49 

So we must hold our given course, 

Nor hope to turn aside ; 
For God has placed between our souls, 

An ocean deep and wide. 



MAY. 

(Mai, von Heine.) 

When comes the blissful month of May, 

And all the buds are oping, 
A longing thrills me thro' and thro', 

And sets my heart to hoping. 

When comes the blissful month of May, 
And all the birds are singing, 

A thousand spells of faith and love 
Within my heart are winging. 



50 



THE NORTH COUNTREE. 

My heart is afar in the northland, 

A thousand of leagues away. 
Where sombrously gleam the pines in the beam, 

Foretelling the shut of the day. 

And the wail of the whippoorwill's piping 
Makes mournful the hours of night, 

As it woefully floats, with lugubrious notes, 
From the crest of each mist-veiled height. 

'Tis a part of the great north countree. 

The land where the wild roses bloom; 

And the air is atune with the beauty of June, 

And sweet with its flowered perfume. 
SI 



v. 



52 Bits of Sunshine 

My heart is afar in the northland, 
The great star's kingdom for aye ; 

And the dark pine's gloom overshadows the 
room, 
Where dwelleth my love alway. 

Some day shall I speed to the highland, 

Tho' leagues upon leagues away ; 
And tarry for aye, 'neath the starry array, 

That glints at the close of the day. 

Oh, my heart is afar in the northland, 

A thousand leagues away; 
Where sombrously gleam the pines in the beam, 

Foretelling the shut of the day. 



TWO ALMONDS. 

Two almonds grew upon a tree, 

And one was fair of face ; 
The other was of plain degree 

Without a touch of grace. -^ 

Thro' rain and shine and cold and warm, 
They grew there side by side ; 

And braved the rigor of the storm, 
That shrieked in angry pride. 

They had no care for all the world, 

But joyed the other's glance ; 

What mattered if the tempest whirled, 

And raged in arrogance? 
53 



^4 Bits of Sunshine 

Contentment ruled their little realm, 

And peace was all around ; 
No storm nor strife could e'er o'erwhelm 

And scatter them aground. 

They grew so close, that cheek to cheek 

They hung upon the tree, 
And nestled closer every week 

As happy as could be. 

Such joy, unmixed with baser form. 

Was never known before ; 
Affection's hope was always warm. 

And glowing more and more. 

But summer's sun at length grew cold, 
They felt the chilling blast ; 

Yet each renewed the vow of old. 
To love until the last. 



Two Almonds ^^ 

They looked aback the passing year, 

When hope ahured the way, 
Without a sign of hidden fear 

To mar the final day. 

The leaves, above their green retreat, 

Grew yellow, old and sear ; 
The birds no longer came to meet, 

And sing an anthem near. 

But when, with cheeks together pressed, 

The moment came to part, 
Their hearts were rent, and down to rest 

They fell, but not apart. 

Then nature let a tear-drop fall 

Upon the constant two ; 
And shook adown a leafy pall, 

And hid their forms from view. 



V 



RUE AND ROSES. 

When the earth was consecrated 
To the hosts, the Lord created, 
Fairest were these flower-faces 



Full of cheer and fragile graces. 



Softly speak they to the senses — 
" Hold thy heart from all offences ; 
God is good, and still his glory 
Gilds the page of every story. 

" Hath thy heart a friend in keeping. 

Whom thou lov'st awake or sleeping, 

Bid us bear him thy devotion, 

Over every hill and ocean. 
S6 



Rue and Roses 57 

*' We have voices for revealing 
Every shade of human feeHng ; 
Solace from us thou canst borrow, 
When thy heart is dull with sorrow. 

" Only hold thy mind unswerving; 
Worth is his who is deserving — 
Hope may falter, faith may sicken; 
Christ the palsied arm doth quicken. 

" Shut thine eyes to things below thee, 
Nobler ones we have to show thee, 
Work is well, and joy is duty; 
Love the spring of perfect beauty. 

" Wrong may flourish for a season. 
Fed by fraud and arrant treason; 
Yet there stands the truth supernal. 
Only right hath life eternal. 



58 Bits of Sunshine 

" And the best of earth shall flourish, 
After all of evil perish ; 
And transferred to holy places, 
They shall gain peculiar graces." 

Thus the voice of rue and roses 
To the list'ning ear discloses, 
How the hand of God is dealing 
With each turn and trend of feeling. 



SONG OF SPRING. 

When modest mayflowers with velvet white 
cup, 

Waken up, 
'Neath the reach 
Of the moss-grown maple, and smooth-barked 
beech. 

And the sun's gentle ray- 
Fills the earth with the beauty and fairness of 
May — 

List to the song 
Heard all the day long, 
From orchard, and woodland, and streamlet 
and grove. 

Wherever the feet of the wanderer rove. 
59 



6.3 Bits of Sunshine 

" The winter is over and summer has come, 
Oh, birdie, let's hasten and build us a home." 

" Where — where ? " 

" Not there; 

For I fear, 

'Tis too near 
The danger that lurks in the cities of man." 

" Then to-day, 

Let's away 
And build in the branches the summer winds 
fan." 

" There's a tree. 

Wherein we 
May fashion, together, tL-. cutest of nests. 
To welcome the come of the spring's little 
guests." 

" Must we go 

Toward the glow, 



Song of Spring 6 1 

Of the east or the west, 
To accompHsh our quest?" 
" Far over the hills, and the valleys, and 

streams, 
Vv^here dawneth the light of the morning's first 
beams." 

" Here, love, is the tree, 

Which seemeth to me 
Best suited to shelter from danger and strife." 

" Then to work, 

Lest we shirk 
The service demanding the fulhiess of life." 

" We'll fashion with care 

Our dwelling so fair; 
And trusting forever the Father of all, 
We'll live and be loved, whatsoever befall." 



O LOVE FOREVER. 

(O Lieb so Lang, von Freiligrath.) 
O love forever, if you can, 
O love forever, if you may. 
The time must come, the time must come, 
When o'er a grave you mourn and pray ! 

And let your heart be always warm, 
And love be near and love be dear, 
As long as beats a kindred heart 
Your own to fill with blissful cheer. 

And should love bare his breast to you, 
O do him what is best to do, 
And work him ever deeds of love, 
A.nd work him never deeds of rm. 

0^ 



O Love Forever 63 

And place a guard about your tongue, 
For soon an evil word is said; 
O God, but never so designed, — 
Yet turns the other's heart to lead. 

O love forever, if you can, 
O love forever, if you may. 
The time must come, the time must come. 
When o'er a grave you mourn and pray. 

Then low upon the sod you kneel, 
And hide your eyes in grief — alas. 
They see the other never more, 
Beneath the long, wet churchyard grass. 

And pray : O let thy glances rest on me. 
Who weeps above thy form enshrined; 
Forget, that I have done thee wrong; 
God, it was not so designed! 



64 Bits of Sunshine 

Alas, he sees and hears you not, 
Nor feels the love you would bestow ; 
The lips, yours pressed, shall never say : 
Forgiven wert thou long ago. 

And yet 'twas done, he pardoned all, 
Though fast the scalding teardrops fell 
For you, and for your bitter words — 
But pause — he rests, his soul is well. 

Then love forever, if you can, 
Then love forever, if you may ; 
The time must come, the time must come, 
When o'er a grave you mourn and pray. 



THE ROSE. 

ROMANCE, 

Go, lovely rose, 

And tell my love alone, 
That weie thy beauty half as clear. 
As hers doth to my soul appear, 

Thou wouldst be fairer known. 

And tell her, rose. 

As doth thy fragrance spread, 

So spreads her mem'ry thro' mine heart, 

And sweetness fills its darkest part. 

And gloom is wholly fled. 
65 



66 Bits of Sunshine 

And tell her, rose, 
That some one thinks of her, 

However far she be away; 

And whether night or noon of day, 
He doth her still prefer. 

And tell her, rose, 

Whatever be his fate, 
One face shall smile upon his own; 
One hand shall beckon him alone, 

Across the iron gate. 

Thus tell her, rose, 

And then return to me; 
And say, what v/as the maiden's mood. 
That must my baser sense elude, 

Until I learn of thee. 



The Rose 67 

MEMORIES. 

Lo, faded rose, 

Full forty years have sped, 
Since that fond moment long ago, 
When all thy petals were aglow, 

With one deep hue of red. 

Lo, withered rose, 
How much she thought of thee ; 
For she hath kept thee all this time, 
Wrapped in the yellowed sheets of rime. 
She once received of me. 

But now, poor rose, 
What blight hath struck thy form ! 

Since I did liken her to thee, 

Whose heart, suffused with love for me, 
Was ever true and warm. 



69 Bits of Sunshine 

Yea, faded rose, 
Fair seemed she then to me; 
For she was bonny, bhthe and fair, 
With coral hps and dark-brown hair, 
And cheeks that rivaled thee. 

Alas, poor rose, 
She now is wan and cold; 
And nevermore mine eyes shall see 
The form, that so delighted me, 
Thro' all the days of old. 

And now, poor rose. 
What madness mars my brain; 
As day and night my soul doth crave 
A sight of her, who in the grave 
These many days hath lain. 



The Rose 69 

Ah, wretched rose, 
Would that this heart had burst ; 

Ere doomed to bear the pangs of woe, 

That dry the founts of hfe below, 
With love's unending thirst. 

Ah, faded rose, 
~What pain, .what grief is rife; 
The earth no longer hath a bloom, 
Except the flowers above the tomb, 
That holds my all of life. 

And so, poor rose. 

Thou hast for me a bane; 
A sadness creeps upon my soul ; 
I long to leave this world of dole, 

And meet my love again. 



70 Bits of Sunshine 

And yet, oh rose, 

Not all of love is dead; 
Nor art thou only faded leaves, 
Whereo'er the mourner sadly grieves, 

For what he fancies fled. 

Thy fragrance, rose. 
Doth still pervade the room ; 
And telleth me, my love shall rise, 
And once again assume the guise, 
That now is veiled in gloom. 

Then, precious rose. 

Thy life was not in vain; 
For thou hast taught us how to love, 
Hast twined our souls to heights above. 

As with a golden chain. 



THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE. 

An angel once strayed from the heaven-lit 
bound, 
And wandered unholpen apart; 
For ages she sought, but no shelter was found. 
To hide from the world, and its worry of 
sound. 
Until she found rest in a heart. 

And the name of the angel, that wandered from 

home. 

Was Patience, most fair to behold. 

Who saileth no longer the silvery foam. 

Nor wishes again from her haven to roam 

In quest of a city of gold. 
71 



TO ARMS! 

"To arms! To arms!" the nation cries, 

A wrong must be redressed ; 
A wail is borne across the sea, 

A people is oppressed — 
The tyrant's heel is on her breast, 

His steel is at her throat; 
His e3^es, with hellish greed aflame, 

Upon her features gloat. 

" To arms ! To arms ! " the nation cries, 

The fiend must leave our shore, 

The fiend whose hand is stained with blood, 

Whose sword is red with gore; 
72 



To Arms 73 

The fiend whose path by bleeding forms 

Is ever manifest — 
The only blot upon our land, 

The free land of the west. 

" To arms ! To arms ! " the nation cries, 

Let vengeance have her due ; 
The lives of those must be avenged. 

Who sailed the rolling blue ; 
Let justice hold her righteous course, 

And stand with fearless front; 
Tho' gainst her, with terrific force. 

Is hurled war's horrid brunt. 

" To arms ! To arms ! " the nation cries, 
Drive out the foreign foe; 
What right has he to butcher men. 
To add to human woe? 



^4 Bits of Sunshine 

'Tis ours to hurl his bestial form 

Across the parting main ; 
And let the bonny stars and stripes 

Replace the flag of Spain. 

" To arms ! To arms ! " the nation cries, 

Unleash the anchor chain; 
The souls of thousands cry redress, 

The souls of thousands slain; 
A God there is in justice strong 

Who will our land defend, 
Till every trace of Spanish rule 

Shall find eternal end. 

Then let us not be faint of heart. 

Nor hesitate to go; 
The God of battles, as of old, 

Will lead against the foe; 



To Arms ys 

No fear is his whose cause is just, 

Events are thus ordained — 
The wrong must fail, the right survive 

And justice be maintained. 



WORK. 
God gave a work to every one, a work for each 

to do ; 
A work for old, a work for young, a work we 

should pursue; 
A work for morn, a work for eve, a work for 

every time ;• 
A work for fall, a work for spring, whatever be 

the clime. 

It matters not if hands are weak, and strength 

is seeming small ; 

There is a work for every one, there is a work 

for all ; 

76 



Work "jj 

There is a work to ease the loads, that other 

men have borne; 
A work to smile when others weep, to laugh 

when others mourn. 

Tho' darkness fall about the path, that marks 

life's narrow way; 
There is a work for every time, a work for 

every day; 
A work to help the sinful up, to aid the lost of 

men; 
To show the fallen how to climb the steep from 

error's den. 

One's lot may seem an aimless one, a life that's 

lived in vain ; 
Yet still there is a work for him, a work of 

might and main ; 



78 Bits of Sunshine 

A work to do the little things, already half 

begun, 
To do the tasks that others shirk, that others 

leave undone. 

Whatever be one's sphere in life, there is a 

work to do; 
A work no other can perform, nO' other may 

pursue ; 
A work to ease the pain of those, who lie on 

beds of woe; 
A work to lift the veil of death, and show the 

God below. 

Wherever one may choose to live, wherever one 

may be; 
There is a work for every one, a work for you 

and me ; 



Work 79 

A work to clothe the destitute, a work to feed 

the poor; 
A work to save the lost and lorn on every 

mount and moor. 

However far one's feet may stray beyond his 

native land; 
There is a work for him alone, a work to suit 

his hand; 
There is a work for every mind, a work for 

every whim; 
A work of faith, a work of hope, a work of love 

for him. 

There is a work for every class, a work for 

every age; 
A work for men, a work for maids, a work for 

youth and sage; 



8o Bits of Sunshine 

For those that wear the badge of toil, or regal 

diadem ; 
For those that do as they would have their 

neighbor do to them. 

Then work as is your gift to work, as is your 

strength to strive; 
And prove yourself in thought and deed the 

fittest to survive; 
And like a servant, tried and true, receive your 

just reward, 
From him who sits enthroned above, the great 

omnific Lord. 



MY LOVE. 

(Ein Gedicht, von Baumbach.) 

Many are the stars at night, 

In the sky asparkle; 
Comes the sun with morning Hght, 

She will them o'erdarkle. 

Happy titmals on the wing, 
Here and yon a-winging; 

When the finch begins to sing, 
They must cease their singing. 

Pansies and forget-me-not. 

In their places blooming ; 

Opes the rose in gardenplot. 

They must hide in glooming. 
8i 



82 Bits of Sunshine 

Pretty maidens pass me by, 

But I care not whither; 
When my sweetheart cometh nigh, 

They appear to wither. 



THE SHIP. 

Dark heaved the ocean far and near, 

A gloomy, trackless waste; 
Above were clouds, as black as night, 
No star appeared with welcome light 
The mariner to haste. 

A silence reigned with hush intense, 

As round forgotten graves ; 
No land, nor light was seen to guide 
The luckless ship, that chanced to ride 
• Across the inky waves. 

God help the one who finds himself 

Aboard a craft at night ; 

Beneath him heaves the hungry deep; 

Above, the clouds, in pile and heap, 

Presage the tempest's might. 
83 



4- Bits of Sunshine 

Ah, life is but a feeble cord 

That holds us here below ; 
A little wrench, and lo, it parts, 
Regardless tho' ten thousand hearts 

Are buried deep in woe. 

All seemed forlorn when from the deep 

A gleam burst thro' the dark; 
The shadows fled, the darkness sped, 
A mystic glow of light o'erspread 
What seemed a phantom bark. 

On — on it came with even keel, 

With lights afore, astern ; 
Her pointed prow cut thro' the tide, 
That swept along her burnished side, 

Forbidden to return. 



The Ship 85 

Thus sweeps the life of man along 

Upon the sea of fate ; 
To-day it glides along the deep ; 
To-morrow bides in endless sleep 

Beneath an ocean's weight. 

How swiftly sped the ship ahead, 

With all her canvas set; 
God only, knew the storms before, 
The reefs around the harbor door, 

Where warring waters met. 

'Tis easy for a ship to sail, 

When all the sea's at rest; 
But when the winds tempestuous grow. 
And waves are lashed as white as snow, 

Then comes the doomful test. 



86 Bits of Sunshine 

Who knows if every seam will hold, 

If every mast will stay? 
It needs must be a master ship, 
Whose stem, nor stern shall never slip 

Beneath the ocean gray. 

Too many hearts, upon life's sea, 

Have foundered in the gale; 
And some as wrecks now drift about, 
And some, engulfed, are lost without 
A sign of plank or sail. 

Lo, as the gleam burst thro' the dark, 

And lay along the deep, 
A glade of gold shone on before. 
That seemed to light from shore to shore. 

The shorter route to keep. 



The Ship 87 

Thus seemed my heart a phantom ship 

Upon the sea of fate; 
The course unknown, its end unseen, 
A heaving mass of waves between, 

That never did abate. 

And as the moon shone thro' the mist 

And lit the way before, 
So came, into my Hfe one day, 
A gleam of hope, content to stay 

With me forevermore. 

And now however dull the day, 

However dark the night, 
Hope spreads her silver beams about. 
Dispels each anxious fear and doubt. 

And sheens the way with light. 



'TWAS BUT A GLIMPSE. 

'Twas but a glimpse that caught my eye- 
A lissom form that passed me by, 
And straight was lost again 
Within the throng, 
That swept along 
The busy marts of men; 
Yet in my heart is still the face, 
That charmed me with its maiden grace. 

Her cheeks were of the deepest red, 
That dyes the crimson, sunset bed 
Of bridaled day and night; 
And like the gleams. 
Of star-lit beams. 
There flashed a softened light. 
That filled my gloomy, caverned heart. 
And left sweet peace in every part. 



'TwasBut A Glimpse 89 

Perchance when time has told our years, 
And led us through the vale of tears, 
'Twill be our lot to meet; 
And join our hands 
* In spirit lands. 
As friends are wont to greet; 
May God endow my soul with strength, 
To meet her angeled form at length. 



WASHINGTON. 
Poets may sing of the heroes of old, 
Tehing the deeds that were done by the bold; 
Greater than all is the name that shall stand 
Washington, father of liberty's land. 

Others have fought for the glory of fame, 
Led by the light of a misleading aim; 
Washington, heedless of self to the end. 
Fought for the rights of his brother and friend. 

Rough was the sea when he stepped on the 

deck, 

Racked was the ship till it trembled a wreck ; 

Placing with calmness, his hand on the wheel, 

Slowly they sailed for the harbor of weal. 
90 



Washington 9 1 

Dark were the clouds with the dread of 

despair, 
Flooding the ship with a corrent of care ; 
Yet in the midst of the darkening gloom, 
One and one only stood dauntless at doom. 

Last from the east came a gleam from the sun, 
Telling the glory the captain had won ; 
Sheltered and safe from perplexities passed 
Anchored the ship lay in harbor at last. 

Foremost in battle, and foremost in peace, 
Watching with patience his country's increase, 
Grandly he lived, and more grandly he died. 
Liberty's hero, America's pride. 

Nations may flourish and fall to decay. 
Men in their vigor as soon pass away; 
Washington, first in American hearts, 
Liberty, union forever imparts. 



THOU. 

Yea, thou hast soothed the worn — hast 

smoothed 
The brow of pain — hast given the wear) rest — 
Hast held the souls of men to God 
With chains of pearl. Therefore art thou blest. 



92 



THE CASTLE BY THE SEA. 

(Das Schloss am Aleer, von Uhland.) 
Hast thou seen that castle sitting 

Near the waters of the deep ; 
And the golden cloudlets flitting 

With a silent, filmy sweep? 

From the mirrored sheen it sendeth 
Peak and spire afar on high ; 

Then its rugged summit bendeth 
'Neath the glinting star-lit sky. 

Oft I've seen that castle teeming, 

With its many turrets steep; 

And the moon above it gleaming, 

And the mists around it creep." 
93 



94 Bits of Sunshine 

Dost thou hear a sound of laughter 
From the castled walls above; 

Gleams there aught on stone or rafter 
Of the marriage feast of love? 

" Silence holdeth all forsaken 

Wind and wave upon the reef; 
Save at times the hush is shaken 
By the saddened strains of grief." 

See'st thou not the king advancing 
With a maiden 3^oung and fair, 

And the molten sunlight glancing 
Thro' her golden wealth of hair? 

" Yes, I saw the long procession. 

But no sound of mirth v/as there; 
All were filled with deep depression, 
For the maiden young and fair," 



MILESTONES. 

Milestone after milestone 

Measures us the way, 
Trav'ling onward, upward, 

Trav'ling every day; 
Trav'ling to the kingdom 

Just beyond the sea ; 
Trav'ling from the present 

To eternity. 

Shall we reck the number, 
Shall we reck the end; 

Shall we reck the trials 
Everywhere impend? 

God will lead us safely 
He is good and kind ; 

He will keep us ever. 

Lovingly in mind, 
95 



96 Bits of Sunshine 

Journey then we onward, 

Helping each along, 
Struggling on together, 

Mid the peevish throng; 
Recking not the number 

Of the milestone last; 
But the good accomplished 

As we journey past. 

If we scatter kindness. 

As the saints of old, 
By and by the milestones 

Shall be turned to gold; 
By and by the milestones 

Shall be ended quite, 
In the land of promise, 

In the land of light. 



RESURRECTION. 

The power of dream fell o'er my soul, 

And wafted me away, 
Until I saw the golden gleam, 

Of many a future day. 

Methought I saw a grave, that yawned, 
Fresh-hollowed from the ground, 

And on its edge, with wonderment, 
A little bloom I found. 

The turf was rent wherein it grew. 

And half its roots were free; 

A breath of wind, and lo, it fell, 

Unseen by all but me. 
97 



98 Bits of Sunshine 

And then methotight the time wore on, 

And once again I came; 
There still I saw the open grave, 

And all around the same. 

The same? Ah, yes, it seemed the same. 

For on the farther side 
I saw the spot, wherefrom the bloom 

Fell in the cavern wide. 

But drawing near, a wondrous sight 

Was seen within the gloom, 
The little plant had taken root, 

And blossomed in the tomb. 

That plant is love, a fragile growth, 

Upon the grave abloom, 
Which, tho' it fall, takes root again 

And blossoms in the tomb, 



Resurrection 99 

And God, I trow, when he observes, 

That blossom, rich and rare, 
Will plant it with delight within 

His garden over there. 



L.ofC. 



OPPORTUNITY. 

We pass this way but once. Let each 
Be zealous of the good in reach — 
Do all the good he can — Some cheer 
Impart to careworn souls — Be near 
In time of grief; and ease the dread, 
That throbs along the aching head — 
Do what he can with might and main ; 
We shall not pass this way again, 
And what we finish not to-day 
Forever on, undone must stay. 



100 



LOVE ENOUGH. 

When the earth is frozen deep, 
'Neath the winter's icy sleep, 
Is there love enough to hold 
Human hearts from growing cold ? 

Easy is it in the land, 
Where the sun is aye at hand. 

For the heart of each to say — 
" Love, I love thee true to-day? '' 

But when comes a blast of death, 
On the northern tempest's breath, 

Is there love enough to say — 
" Love, I love thee more to-day? " 

lOI 



102 Bits of Sunshine 

Ah, it is but little worth, 

Where we make our home on earth; 
Love, that's true, swerves not for clime, 
Nor is changed by tide or time. 

Like a hearthstone, all ablaze, 
Love lives on thro' years of days ; 
And the chillest heart can hold 
Love enough to warm the cold. 

Love enough and love to spare, 

Love enough for every care, 
Love enough, despite the woe. 
For a thousand years below. 

Love enough to keep the heart, 

Glowing warm in every part; 
And within for aye unspent. 
Springs of comfort and content. 



LORELEI. 

(Lorelei, von Heine.) 
I know not what it presages, 

My heart should so complain ; 
This tale of the olden ages 

Unceasing haunts my bram. 

The air is cool, and it darkles, 
And softly flows the Rhine; 

The tip of the mountain sparkles, 
Where the sunny beams incline, 

A beautiful maiden listens, 

Who sits in splendor there ; 

The gleam of her jewels glistens, 

She combs her golden hair. 
103 



1 04 Bits of Sunshine 

And the comb she plies is golden, 
Her singing a song of glee, 

That holdeth a touch of the olden 
Bewitchment of melody. 

The sailor that sails the ocean, 
Gives vent to a wistful sigh ; 

He heeds not the breakers' commotion. 
He sees but the form on high. 

I fancy, the waters o'erpowered 
The boat and the moonstruck one ; 

And this with enchantment endowered. 
The Lorelei has done. 



" SEVEN TIMES ? " 

'Tis better to forgive a wrong 

Thy brother does to thee, 
Than cherish wrath within thy heart, 

For ah the world to see; 
Be like the martyrs, famed of old, 

Who blessed the hand that slew ; 
Who prayed Jehovah to forgive, 

As we ourselves should do. 

Not seven times shalt thou forgive 

The wrongs, thou dost receive; 

But just as oft as saidi a voice — 

"Forgive me, and believe; 
105 



io6 Bits of Sunshine 

Forgive me that I did thee wrong, 
The eyes of love were blind ; 

Forgive me that I hurt thee so, 
It was not thus designed." 

The days of life are far too short. 

To give them o'er to sin ; 
There's barely time, along the way. 

For kindness to begin; 
Purge out the evil from thy heart, 

Let only good remain ; 
Thy brother love, as if thyself. 

Be not a second Cain. 

The faithful love is not the one 
That sells itself for gold; 

Nor asketh, for the love it gives, 
A love as great to hold ; 



" Seven Times ? " 1 07 

But freely gives it all it hath, 

And counts it not in vain; 
If for the gift, it be repaid 

With days of toil and pain. 

Then heart of mine, forgive the wrong 

So lately done to thee ; 
The time may come, when him no more 

Thy aching breast shall see; 
Forgive him, that he did thee wrong, 

The eyes of love were blind ; 
Forgive him that he hurt thee so, 

It was not thus designed. 



SIMILITUDES. 

What is it that my love. is like? 

My love is like the rose; 
The rose, that grows the world around, 

Where'er my true love goes. 

No woodland lake is half so calm, 

As is her love for me; 
The love, I've proved as broad and deep. 

As is the great, blue sea. 

Such wondrous tho'ts, as those she thinks, 

A fairy might devise; 

I've heard her speak a thousand times 

But always with surprise. 
io8 



Similitudes 1 09 

And yet methinks llie fairest words, 

Of all I've heard her say, 
Are these — " O sweetheart, tried and true 

I love thee well to-day. 

Whatever be the fates before, 

I'll love thee true for aye, 
I'll love thee with a love, as sweet 

As apple trees in May." 

Ah, I might travel aU this land, 

And half the world beside; 
But never find another one, 

Wherein such beauties bide. 

My love is like a pansy bloom. 

So fair and sweet is she; 
And she shall blossom in my heart. 

For all eternity. 



THERE'S A SOFTNESS. 

There's a softness stealing o'er me, 
Like the fragrance of the rose, 

When I see thy face before me, 
And the love it doth disclose. 

In thy presence there is healing. 
As of balm of Gilead ; 

Thou art constantly revealing 
More than ever lips have said. 

Be thou then, O sweetheart, present, 
Thro' discomfort and dismay; 

Keep thyself for aye as pleasant. 
As thou art to me to-day. 



no 



TELL ME. 

Tell me, flower, tell me truly, 

What I fain would learn of thee; 
Did a body whisper to thee 

Any tale of love for me, 
When she plucked thee from the garden, 

But a little time ago. 
Did she tell thee, tell me truly, 

That she loved me weal or woe? 

Did she tell thee that she loved me, 

With a love as true as gold; 

And whatever her possessions, 

Those were mine as well to hold; 
III 



1 1 2 Bits of Sunshine 

Did she tell thee, tell me truly, 
That her heart was mine alone; 

And she'd rather be my sweetheart, 
Than the fairest princess known ? 

Tell me, flower, tell me truly, 

Let thy answer be the right; 
For my heart is sad and lonely. 

And the wind is chill to-night; 
Up and down_the street I've wandered, 

Asking o'er and o'er again — 
Does she love me as she promised, 

Have I trusted her in vain? 

Ah the cold, the cold that sweepeth 
Down the street its icy chill; 

Ah the cold, the cold that creepeth 
Thro' the heart with sense of ill ! 



Tell Me 113 

Tell me, flower, tell me truly 

What I fain would learn of thee; 

Has her heart amid the pleasure 
Taken time to think of me ? 

But let not my heart grow selfish, 

But believe the good that seems; 
For it's true I'm but a dreamer, 

In a shadow-land of dreams; 
Let me trust that, tho' she wander, 

She'll return to me at night. 
Bringing with her bits of sunshine 

From the outside world of light 



THE BROKEN RING. 

(Das Zerbrochene Ringlein, von Eichendorff.) 
Down in a shady valley, 

There turns a mighty wheel; 
My love has thence departed, 

And robbed my heart of weal. 

A ring she gave in token, 
And promised to be true; 

Alas, her faith is broken, 

The ring has snapped in two. 

I long to be a minstrel, 

And trace the world around; 

And sing my tale of sorrow. 

Wherever men are found. 
114 



The Broken Ring 115 

I long to be a trooper, 

And gallop into fight; 
And by the quiet camp-fire, 

Be lulled to sleep at night. 

Whene'er I hear the mill wheel, 

I know not what I will; 
I long to meet destruction. 

And all at once be still 



GIVING. 

Through joy and through torment I'll give as 

thou givest, 

From a smile to the love that upsprings from 

thy heart; 

Whatever thou art, and wherever thou livest, 

I'll give as thou givest till death doth us part. 

Shouldst thou give me thy heart, thou hast mine 
in possession, 

'Tis but fair if thou takest to give in return; 
Though the giving included a loving confession 

'Twould be but more sweet for the blushes 

that burn. 

ii6 



Giving 117 

Then so long as thou Hvest I'll give as thou 
givest, 
From a smile to the love which may spring 
from thy heart; 
And whatever thou art and wherever thou 
livest, 
I'll give as thou givest in whole and in part. 



BELATED. 

Hear the wild winds round us whistle; 
See the snows, like down of thistle, 

As they hurry thro' the air! 
And the tree-tops, dumbly swaying, 
Toss their arms, as if essaying 

To be rid of some despair. 

Is there not a refuge waited, 

For the traveller belated, 

By the stormy winds that blow; 

Not a house, or home, or haven, 

Where a heart, with love engraven, 

Will give welcome from the snow? 
ii8 



Belated 119 

Ah, behold a tiny glimmer, 
Thro' the icy snows that shimmer, 

In the dusky twilight's gray! 
There, I wis, a door is oping; 
There an anxious heart is hoping 

That no danger come my way. 

What is there that's half so cheery, 
As a sight of home when weary 

Of the toil and grief of days? 
There is warmth and love and quiet; 
There a heart with love run riot, 

In a multitude of ways. 



THE VIOLIN. 

I was sitting in my chamber, 
And my heart was sad within, 

When I heard the plaintive music 
Of a sweet-toned violin. 

As the vapors flee the sunshine, 
So presagements fled away, 

Crowding out, with peace and blessing, 
Every bit of heart dismay. 

There is pleasure past description 

In a soothing melody; 
Like a dream it steals upon us 

Of the far off southern sea. 

120 



The Violin 12I 

Olden fancies are awakened, 

Of the scenes of other days, 
When the ruddy sun was breaking, 

Thro' the morning's misty haze. 

Olden fancies of the noontide, 
When the sun was at its height. 

Seeming glad to pause a moment, 
Ere it sank into the night. 

Play me tunes of joy and gladness; 

Play me tunes of love and cheer; 
Tho' the darkness is approaching, 

And the angel Death is near. 

For I fear not life's disruption, 
Nor the damp and chilly tomb; 

Something whispers, " There is sunshine 
Just beyond the marge of gloom." 



122 Bits of Sunshine 

Something- whispers, " Love and friendship 

Are eternal with the soul; 
And the ties, that here are sundered, 

Shall be made, in Heaven, whole." 

Play me tunes of faith and promise, 
Of the good that's yet to be. 

When we pass the darksome border 
To the great Eternity. 



BLESSINGS. 

(Wolthun, von Claudius.) 
Blessings, calm and clear extended, 
Are the lives, in death not ended, 
Are the blooms, no storms dissever, 
Are the stars, that shine forever. 



123 



A BROWNBIRD. 

A broAvnbird sat on a willow tree, ' 

Before the snows had melted ; 
And all around the frozen ground 

The fahing hailstones pelted; 
Yet as I passed, I heard this song 
On the frosty air the whole day long : 

" The days may come, and the days may flee; 
I love my love, and my love loves me, 
And we're happy, oh happy, as happy can 
be." 

Another month and the fields were green. 

And the forests fair with flowers; 

Still there was nothing so sweet I heard, 

As this song of the springtime bowers; 
124 



A Brownbird 125 

As the same bird sat by the side of the nest, 
It had fashioned so snug on a small mound's 
crest : 
" The days may come, and the days may flee ; 
I love my love, and my love loves me, 
And we're happy, oh happy, as happy can 
be." 

The time wore on, and again I came, 

\Vhere the wee brownbird had nested; 
And in its cup where the eggs had lain 

Four tiny birdlings rested ; 
Yet oft there came to my listening ear 
The same old song with its sound of cheer : 
" The days may come, and the days may flee ; 
I love my love, and my love loves me, 
And we're happy, oh happy, as happy can 
be." 



126 Bits of Sunshine 

Once more I passed — the winds were chill, 

The grass-hid nest deserted; 
For the warmth of spring to the cold of fall, 

For a season had reverted ; 
And yet as I grieved for the song of yore, 
I heard it again as never before : 

" The days may come, and the days may flee ; 
I love my love, and my love loves me, 
And we're happy, oh happy, as happy can 
be." 

And so methought it were well for us 

To live as the Lord intended; 
To let ourselves with the good be blest. 

And not with the bad offended ; 
And as the years and the months go round, 
To hold the wisdom the song bird found ; 



A Brownbird 1 27 

" The days may come, and the days may flee; 
I love my love, and my love loves me, 
And we're happy, oh happy, as happy can 
be." 



ST. VALENTINE. 

Who is it that I send these words? 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 
" Who is it? " ask the wee, wee birds, 
' Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 
My valentine. 
My valentine. 
My valentine, oh-oh. 

Her hair is brown as brown can be, 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 

And oft she says she loveth me, 

Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 

My valentine, 

My valentine, 

My valentine, oh-oh. 

128 



St. Valentine 129 

She liveth in a " honeymoon," 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 
The bHssful, kissful month of June, 
Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 
My valentine. 
My valentine, 
My valentine, oh-oh. 

If I should live a thousand year, 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 
She would but grow more near and dear, 
Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 
My valentine. 
My valentine, 
My valentine, oh-oh. 

I would not lose her for the world, 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 
My heart would be in grievance hurled. 

Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 



130 Bits of Sunshine 

My valentine, 
My valentine, 
My valentine, oh-oh. 

Who is it that I send these words ? 

'Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 
" Some sweetheart," sing the glad, glad birds. 
Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 
My valentine. 
My valentine, 
My valentine, oh-oh. 

My valentine, my valentine, 

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah; 
The valentine, that is all mine, 
Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha; 
My valentine. 
My valentine, 
My valentine, oh-oh. 



LITTLE SWEETHEART. 

Little sweetheart, dost thou love me — 
Hath thy heart no joy above me — 
Is there nothing, thou dost cherish, 
But with me would fade and perish ? 

Little sweetheart, so deserving-. 
Canst thou hold thy heart unswerving? 
Will the promise, now thou givest, 
Be unbroken while thou livest? 

Little sweetheart, best of blessing, 

Make no error past redressing; 

Let thy love be love of reason, 

Living on thro' change of season. 
131 



132 Bits of Sunshine 

Little sweetheart, then whatever 
Peace and comfort would dissever, 
No regret or grief shall enter 
Thy immaculate heart's centre. 



MY MOTHER. 

Of all the benign recollections, 

Of all that I cherish in mind, 
The fairest is that of my mother. 

So gentle, and patient and kind — 
My mother! 
The mother, that loved me so fondly, 

And loves me as trustingly yet; 
The mother, whose goodness and kindness 

I never can wholly forget. 

The tho't of her love is as pleasant, 
As that of a palm-bordered lake, 

That rests in the midst of a desert. 

The thirst of a thousand to slake — 

My mother! 
133 



1 34 Bits of Sunshine 

The mother, that loved me so fondly, 
And loves me as trustingly yet; 

The mother, whose goodness and kindness 
I never can wholly forget. 

She taught me the prayer of my childhood 

One night as she stood at my bed ; 
How Christ on the cross was disfigured 

And the thorns that they put on his head- 
My mother! 
The mother, that loved me so fondly, 

And loves me as trustingly yet; 
The mother, whose goodness and kindness 

I never can wholly forget. 

And now when my heart is aweary, 
Of struggling for honor and gold, 

X dream of my mother comes o'er me. 
With a prayer on her lips as of old — 
My mother! 



My Mother 135 

The mother, that loved me so fondly, 
And loves me as trustingly yet; 

The mother, whose goodness and kindness 
I never can wholly forget. 

But ah, she is older and sadder, 

Than ever I've seen her before; 
There's grief in my heart for the moment, 

When I shall perceive her no more — 
My mother! 
The mother, that loved me so fondly, 

And loves me as trustingly yet; 
The mother, whose goodness and kindness 

I never can wholly forget. 

God grant that her presence shall never 

Completely abandon this head; 
Nor the prayer that she taught me that even, 

As she stood at the side of my bed — 
My mother! 



136 Bits of Sunshine 

The mother, that loved me so fondly, 
And loves me as trustingly yet; 

The mother, whose goodness and kindness 
I never can wholly forget. 



THE ROSE'S MESSAGE. 

I sent my love a rose, 

And bade it say to her, 
That of the thousands of this earth. 
Whatever were their lot or birth, 

Herself I did prefer. 

And wondrously the rose 
Came back again to me. 
And this the message that it bore — 
" My heart rejoices more and more 
Thine own true love to be." 

And then metho't the rose, 

As on its face I glanced, 

Did seem to blush a deeper red, 

Did shyly droop its crimson head 

As if with joy entranced. 
137 



138 Bits of Sunshine 

Thereon I took the rose, 
And with it in mine hand, 
I sped me to my true love's home, 
Determined that I would not roam 
Until she should command. 

And there the crimson rose 
I pinned upon her breast, 
And on her dainty finger drew 
A ring of gold — that love be true 
To all we had confessed. 

Alas, that pretty rose 
Long since hath withered quite, 
But evermore that band of gold 
Is proof, that love hath not grown cold 
With any passing blight. 



THE LOVER'S PLAINT. 

My love, I am lonesome without thee, 
My heart is embittered with woe; 

Each thought that I think is about thee, 
For, sweetest, I cherish thee so. 

All the night time thou hauntest my slumber, 
With dreams of thy willow-like grace ; 

And sunshiny smiles, without number, 
Seem ever to dimple thy face. 

Have pity, my loved one, and hear me, 

Tho' sorrowed and worn and sedate ; 

Come, come with thy graces and cheer me, 

Ere Cometh the fateful " too late." 
139 



140 Bits of Sunshine 

We'll live in a neat little dwelling 
By the side of a crystalline lake; 

Where ever a fountain is welling, 
With many a shiver and shake. 

Then hear me, my love, I implore thee, 
'Tis lonesome — so lonesome alway; 

Forever I'll live to adore thee, 
And cherish thy presence for aye. 



THE PLAGUE. 

Jehovah thus addressed his prophet true — 
" Fear not, thou shalt stern Pharaoh's heart 
subdue, 
And he shall bid thee go; 
For I will bring another plague to prove 
That in the rise and fall of men, I move 
For happiness or woe. 

" At midnight will I pass abroad, and slay 

The first-born child, of them who disobey 

The mandates of mine word ; 

And there shall fall the first-born of the king, 

The high-bred lord and every living thing, 

That hath my plan deferred. 
141 



142 Bits of Sunshine 

" And that the plague touch not my chosen 
band, 
Go speak my law to them throughout the 
land, 
And say : Thus saith the Lord ; 
Let every household take a lamb, and keep 
It parted from the common herd of sheep, 
Nor let it be abhorr'd. 

" And on the fourteenth day, ye shall it kill 
At dusk of eve, when all the land is still, 

And supplicate your God ; 
And take the blood, and strike it on the dooi^ 
And on the upper posts, and on the floor ; 

And thus the plague defraud. 

" And ye shall eat the flesh that night with 
bread 
Unleavened, and with herbs of wormwood 
fed, 
And let none see the day; 



The Plague 143 

And eat it with your loins well-girt, your 

shoes 
Upon your feet, and tarry not, nor choose 
My will to disobey. 

For I will travel, through the land that night, 
With lifted sword, and show my changeless 
might 
To all of Egypt's host; 
And there shall fall the eldest born, both 

man 
And beast, and all that hath defied the plan, 
That seeks thy welfare most. 

But where the blood appears above the door 
That house the plague shall hurry o'er, 

And ye shall be unhurt." 
Thus spake the Lord, and all the people heard, 
And chose the lambs, whereto they all con- 
curred 

God's vengeance to avert. 



144 -^^^^ °^ Sunshine 

And on the fourteenth day, they slew them 

all, 
And struck the holy blood upon the wall 

Above the entrance door. 
And then they prayed, and ate the flesh, with 

bread 
Unleavened, and with herbs of wormwood 
fed. 
For death to pass them o'er. 

And on that night two sisters dwelt alone. 
And heard with fear the universal moan, 

That burst the lips of men. 
As up and down the land there sped the 

plague. 
With reeking blade, and smote with might, 
too vague 
For human mind to ken. 



The Plague 145 

And Mary shuddered at the noise, and hid 
Her head upon her sister's breast, to rid 

Her ears of what she heard; 
But Eunice trembled not, and strove to calm 
Her sister's heart, and soothe it with the balm, 

That fills a loving word. 

And Mary spake and said — '' What if our 

God, 
Whose hosts of vengeance now are spread 
abroad. 
That blood should fail tO' see, 
We struck upon the lintel of the door ? — 
Would he not come and smite us to the floor, 
In woeful misery? " 

But Eunice answered — "Cease thy fear; no 

harm 
Shall come, though God surround us with 
alarm ; 
The plague will pass us o'er; 



146 Bits of Sunshine 

We have his law obeyed, the lamb is slain; 
Why need thy heart distrust his royal reign? 
The blood is on the door." 

And then they knelt, with close-locked hands, 

to pray 
The Lord to shield them, till the break of 
day 
Quiescence should restore ; 
And Mary trusted and no longer cried : 
" What if the rising mists should chance to 
hide 
The blood upon the door? " 

And so the night wore on, and in the land 
Ten thousand perished by Jehovah's hand — 

The first-born of the king, 
Of cringing slave, of him in regal garb; 
Not one escaped, straight, flew the mortal 
barb 

From off the twanging string. 



The Plague 147 

And not one house was left, but there was 

found 
Some dead; and all that night the funeral 
sound 
Smote on the list'ning ear ; 
But where the angel saw the sprinkled door 
Of God's elect, that house he hurried o'er, 
And smote it not with fear. 

And so the legend holds, for us, as them ; 
God's justice doth this sinful world condemn 

To many a leprous pest; 
But where he sees the blood upon the door, 
His angers cease, his armies hasten o'er 

And leave his people blest. 



HEARTSEASE 



HEARTSEASE. 
Fairest of flowers, that blossom to view, 
Heartsease is reckoned in meaning and hue. 

Freed of the brambles that cumber the ground, 
Gladly they scatter their blossoms around. 

Wind doth not injure them, cold doth not 

blight, 
Petals unfold, whether midday or night. 

Always the same with a smile for the eye. 
Hardly they reck, tho' the tempest be nigh. 

Often their presence will free one of woe, 

Soften, and banish the worries below. 
iSi 



152 Heartsease 

And in their places leave feelings of peace, 
Blessed because of discomfort's surcease. 

Thro' the whole summer they blossom so bright, 
Snows being melted, again they delight. 

So in each heart is a garden of bloom 
Able to gladden the darkest of gloom. 

Keep the heart holy and thoughts will arise, 
Blossom like heartsease for thousands of eyes. 

And in a little, by increase of seed, 
Blossom for millions — yea, blossom indeed. 



THE WAYS. 

God's way and man's way- 
Are never quite the same; 

For both of them vary 
In motive and in aim. 

Yet God's way's the best way, 
Tho' man may think it not; 

For each way's a good way, 
And nothing is forgot. 

But man's way's a poor way, 

With selfishness indued; 

For each way's a bad way, 

And ought to be eschewed. 
153 



I j;4 Heartsease 

Sometimes the Lord's way- 
Appears a bit unjust; 

But that's not a reason 
For people to distrust. 

A man's thought's a weak thought, 

And never sees before; 
But God's thought's a great thought, 

And spans the other shore. 

Where man sees but evil, 
God sees the blessings too; 

He sees how the sorrows 
His mercy shall subdue. 

A broad way's the wrong way, 
A narrow way the right, 

Yet the first ends in darkness, 
The latter ends in light. 



The Ways 155 

Who strays from the good way 

Will find a thorny road, 
Where woes ever threaten, 

And fearful fates forbode. 

The best way's the right way, 

And only that is his; 
The rest are delusive, 

For each illusive is. 

If God's way is our way, 

No evil need we fear; 
For God's strong to comfort, 

His mercy strong to cheer. 

So let's not distrust him, 

Whatever people do; 
God's love overshadows 

His children firm and true. 



156 Heartsease 

And God's way, in some way, 
Will find a way for us; 

The' people in planning 
May fail to plan it thus. 



"SOMETHING NEW." 

What is new and what is old? 

Teh me this, I say; 
Teh me what is left to write, 

That is new to-day. 

If I say, I love thee true, 

'Tis a saying old, 
Old as is the oldest tale, 

Ever man has told. 

Yet I love thee true, my lass, 

True as heart may love; 

True — so true my soul doth seem 

Linked with thine above. 
157 



158 Heartsease 

And without thee Hfe would be 

Destitute of cheer; 
Not a heart in all the world, 

With a love sincere. 

Is it new, or is it old, 

What is writ before ? 
Maybe lips have said the same, 

Forty years or more. 

But if thou hast never seen, 
Nor thine ears have heard; 

Then a meaning should be found, 
Newer than the word. 

Thus I tell the olden tale, 

Told for ages past; 
And the whole of life shall flit, 

Ere I reach the last. 



** Something New *' 159 

For however oft 'tis told, 

'Tis as often new; 
And tho' told a thousand times, 

'Tis forever true. 

Then receive the words I give, 

Be they new or old ; 
Somewhere in them thou wilt find 

Something yet untold. 



EASTER. 

Again the gladsome day 
Marks off another year, 

As doth a milestone by the way 
The distance far and near. 

The old, the worn, the used 
Should be this day resigned; 

And in their place for all diffused 
Compassions great and kind. 

How many hopes are dead — 

How many more alive; 

Forgotten is the pain and dread, 

The joys alone survive. 
i6o 



Easter 1 6 1 

Bright shines the morning sun 

O'er frozen vale and hill — 
Shall we no less o'er actions done, 

The light of love distill ? 

We see as thro' a glass, 

That's blurred with spot and stain; 
The faults we find, but miss, alas, 

The virtues that remain. 

Forgiven is the woe, 

Forgotten is the pain; 
The shades of doubt have passed below. 

Content and truth remain. 

Full many words are sent, 

Like random shafts of steel ; 
We hardly know the way they went, 

Much less what they unheal. 



1 62 Heartsease 

'Tis not for us to say — 

The Lord alone is just; 
The love we feel, despite dismay, 
Should pardon, help and trust. 

Let no remorse remain, 

To drive the hope away; 
The faithful heart shall yet attain 

Its chosen wish some day. 

Forgiven is the woe. 

Forgotten is the pain ; 
The shades of doubt have passed below. 

Content and truth remain. 

Some day the mists shall part, 
And show the eyes of all — 

A thousand woes may threat a heart, 
But never need appal. 



Easter 163 

Then live we all our lives, 

As God intrusts us light; 
And see the gleam of truth survives, ^ 

However dark the night. 

Crowd out each fearsome thought, 

With love of noble deeds; 
The hand may win, what hands have wrought, 

Tho' all the world impedes. 

Be valiant, strong and true. 

In actions great and small; 
Let every heart its own pursue, 

In spite of fear or fall. 

So shall we live our lives, 

As God would have us live; 
And find that death indeed revives 

The best we have to give. 



1 64 Heartsease 

Ah, gladsome Easter Day, 
The choice of all the year — 

A golden milestone by the way, 
That shall not disappear. 



OF ALL THE PHRASES. 

Of all the phrases ever spoken, 

To heal a heart with grievance broken, 

The best is this, I clail}^ hear 

My trueheart say — " I love you, dear." 

And when the soul is worn and weary, 

What else is left to make it cheery, 

Unless my lass, with lips sincere. 

Doth speak these words — " I love you, dear? " 

And if my life should meet distresses. 

Her voice is left and much expresses ; 

For it doth say within mine ear, 

Each livelong day — " I love you, dear." 
165 



1 66 Heartsease 

And so for us, no dull presentment 
Shall ever mar the heart's contentment; 
A charm is found for every fear, 
And this it is — " I love you, dear." 

Then let us live in hope forever; 
What God hath joined, none can dissever; 
With heart and soul and faith sincere, 
Long shall she say — " I love you, dear." 



APPLE BLOSSOMS. 

What is half so sweet, 
As an apple tree in bloom, 

Long before the heat 

Has despoiled its best perfume? 

Color pink and white, 
And as delicate as pearl, 

Fair as is the sight 

Of a rosy-featured girl. 

There is naught so fair, 

In the circle of the world. 

Nothing half so rare, 

As their petals when unfurled. 
167 



1 68 Heartsease 

Scarce a leaf in sight, 

Just a mass of snowy bloom, 

Greeting with delight 

Every comer with perfume. 

Can so much of good 
Be awakened in a day. 

From a trunk of wood, 

Covered o'er with lichen gray? 

Yes, it seemeth strange, 

Save this meaning's understood- 
Nature doth arrange 

For survival of the good. 

Virtue doth not die, 

Tho' it sleep a hundred days; 
When the wrongs are bye 

Wakens to redoubled praise — 



Apple Blossoms 169 

Bursts its old-time cell, 

Blossoms evil o'er with good; 

Worketh all things well 

For the sake of brotherhood. 



SLEEP ON MY HEART. 

(Schlaf, ein, mein Herz, von Riickert.) 
Sleep on, my heart, in quiet. 

The night has bathed with dew 
The eyehds of the flowers, 

Of every sort and hue. 

Sleep on, my heart, in quiet. 
The world is wrapped in sleep; 

The moon in silent splendor 
Keeps watch above the deep. 

Sleep on, my heart, in quiet, 

From sin and sorrow free; 

The land i« locked in slumber 

A hush becalms the sea. 
170 



Sleep on My Heart 171 

Sleep on, my heart, in quiet, 

From evil dreams secure; 
Thy faith shall give thee vigor, 

And hope with love inure. 

Sleep on, my heart, in quiet. 
And should thee life forsake; 

May thou, with God's elected, 
To fuller joys awake. 



SOMEONE. ^ 

There is someone at the window, 
There is someone plain to see; 

'Tis the lass that loves me truly, 
And is waiting just for me. 

There is someone at the window, 
With her face against the pane, 

And she wonders every moment 
What my coming doth detain. 

There is someone at the window. 

Where the light is burning low; 

And her heart is worn with waiting 

For my step upon the snow. 
172 



Someone 173 

There is someone at the window, 

And a tear is in her eye; 
For she grieves that I must tarry 

Where the cruel shadows He. 

There is someone at the window, 
'Tis the one I wis mine own; 

'Tis the lass who loves me dearly. 
And her love is mine alone. 

There is someone at the window. 

At the window of my soul ; 
And her presence floods with sunshine 

Every darkHng bit of dole. 

There is someone at the window, 
And her faith is locked in mine; 

For she knows I love her truly, 
And my love shall not decline — 



1 74 Heartsease 

But increase in strength and fervor, 
Tho' distresses round us roll; 

For her face is at the window, 
At the window of my soul. 



" O POOR OF THE FLOCK." 

Wherefore should one despise the poor; be- 
cause 
Their lives conform not to our social laws? 
Are these the gauge of manhood; and is 
there 
No higher standard, than these flimsy rules, 
To prove the worth of men and women? 
Where 
Above, below, beyond is God, that fools 
Compute the price of souls; and tell their 

worth, 
As though they were but lumpish clods of 

earth ? 

175 



176 Heartsease 

Too much of sham makes up life's tinselled 

round, 
And few are what they seem; for oft the 
sound 
Of mirth is but the glitter glossing o'er 
A darkful heart; while e'en the honeyed 
smile 
May smooth the harlot's cheek. Alas, no 
more 
The Christ is watchful of this long exile — 
The times are waxing late ; 'tis his to show 
The hosts of heroes in this world below. 

There is a Book of ages past, that reads, 
" All men are brethren ; and one nature feeds 
The mighty fount of life." Created in 
His likeness, mortals were but lesser gods; 



" O Poor of the Flock " i jj 

And were it not for that deceptive sin, 
With triple garb, which worst and best de- 
frauds. 
We had been more. But ever now our Hves 
We hold enthralled by Satan's iron gyves. 

And thus deceived by earthly wisdom, we, 
As those transgressors of that fatal tree, 
Erect crude forms, and phantoms full of 
faults — 
In self-complacence fashion rules of wrong. 
While truth, in shameful rags appareled, 
halts, 
A weakling wraith amid the peevish throng; 
Where fearless it should stand in dauntless 

might 
Arrayed against the hellish foes of right. 



178 Heartsease 

But men are men; and human law must fail 
To dull the gleam of life, however pale; 

God made us such ; our place is neither less 
Nor more, though dullards steeped in social 
lies 

Would fix the sphere of man. Their plain 
distress 
Is that of old — the beam athwart the eyes ; 

'Tis his, who finds himself of sin no more, 

To stone the fallen at the Master's door. 

The badge of manhood in this world is work; 
And craven is the one, who seeks to shirk 

What Heaven has imposed. The horny 
palm, 
The care-worn brow declare the honest man; 

For want is no disgrace. A holy calm 
Is round about the humblest artisan ; 

While he who prates of caste and pedigree 

To senseless form doth bend a slavish knee. 



"O Poor of the Flock'* 179 

Fools may not trample worth beneath the sod, 
Nor rob it of existence. 'Tis of God, 

And he is careful of his own. Beneath 
The coat, threadbare and old, oft beats a 
heart, 
Whose due would be the hero's laurelled 
wreath. 
Besides however low, there is some part 
Of good within the worst. The Christian's 

lot 
Should be to show the Christ, where Christ 
is not. 

Judge not, lest ye be judged, for God alone 
Is just. And human minds are always prone, 
Like leaves within the whirlwind's clasp, 
to change 
With every passing force. 'Tis not for us 



1 80 Heartsease 

To cavil fate ; the ways of God are strange 
With those poor forms, creation's overplus. 
What seems a lowly life, scarce fit to 

crawl. 
With God may be the noblest one of all 

And so beware, how ye offend the least 
Of God's. The worst of men is more than 
beast ; 
For in him shines his Maker's face. Per- 
chance 
It only needs a word to wake his soul. 

With quickened life, from out its brutish 
trance ; 
And thine may be the task to end its dole; 
For he, who does his neighbor only good, 
Has claim to manhood or to woman- 
hood. 



WHEN DAYS ARE DREAR. 

What joy is left, when days are drear, 
And one is racked with pain and fear? 

A stranger's heart 

Can not impart 
The sense of love, the smile of cheer 
A man doth crave, when days are drear. 

Depressions dull in clouds appear, 
From every nook with laugh and leer; 

And every thing 

Doth seem to wring 

The heart with woes, that shift and sheer 

The mind about, when days are drear, 
i8i 



182 Heartsease 

Yet is there nothing to endear — 

A treasure-trove from year to year? 

Behold the face, 

The form and grace 
Of her whose heart, long proved sincere, 
Doth seem a light, when days are drear. 

The cares of life may be severe, 

The world deride with jibe and jeer; 

Yet if her face 

Illume the place, 
The worst of things assume a cheer 
To rest the heart, when days are drear. 



FOUND. 

(Gefunden, von Goethe.) 

I traversed the forest alone one day, 
A seeker of nothing along the way. 

Yet circled with shadow I spied a bloom, 
That shone as a star, or an eye in the gloom. 

I stooped to break, when it said in dismay : 
" Must I be broken to wither away? " 

Then dug I all of its rootlets out. 

And homeward carried each leaf and sprout. 

And planted them deep in the silent ground 

To blossom for others for miles around. 
183 



MATIN. 

The air is full of singing, 

The land of vernal flowers; 
A thousand birds are winging, 
Thro' all the leafy bowers — 
Awake, my love, awake. 
Put off the sense of slumber ! 
The joyous spring 
To-day doth bring 
Relief for every cumber. 

The grass is all asparkle. 

With crystal drops of dew; 

No shadows overdarkle 

The distant arch of blue — 
184 



Matin 185 

Arise, my love, arise, 
The moment is entrancing! 

A blush of light 

Dispels the night. 
O'er eastern hills advancing. 

The sun has burst its prison. 

Has bathed the hills in light; 
And life itself is risen 

From out the gloom of night — 
Adorn, my love, adorn 
Thyself in bridal garments! 
The heart to-day 
Shall find allay 
For all the past debarments. 

Was ever day so pleasant. 

With nothing to deride ? 
God grant the world, the present 
The future shall betide — 



1 86 Heartsease 

Away, my love, away 
Beyond the reach of sorrow ! 
The heart is right. 
There is no bhght 
For truesome love to borrow. 



KISSES. 
A kiss for the weary, 

A kiss for the worn, 
A kiss for the damsel, 

All sad and forlorn. 

And also a kiss 

To woo her to rest, 
That slumber may leave her, 

Restrengthened and blest. 

And a kiss for the morrow, 

A kiss for the day. 

And a kiss for the milestones. 

That measure the way. 
187 



1 88 Heartsease 

So kisses shall soften 
The sorrow and pain, 

As long as affection 
And feeling remain. 



IF HEARTS BE TRUE. 

If hearts be true, 

Why need they wait? 
A year or two 

May be too late. 

If faith be strong, 

And love be true, 
A lasting wrong 

Can not ensue. 

For faith will find 

A way for love; 

And love enwind 

The soul above. 
189 



190 Heartsease 

Tis best to trust 
The Lord in all, 

For naught unjust 
Can then befall. 

If love remain, 
As lips confess, 

A little pain 

Shall not distress. 

And so need we 
Be faint of heart? 

The good we see 
Shall not depart. 

If life be good, 
And love be fair. 

The things withstood 
Shall not impair. 



If Hearts Be True 191 

For every woe 

We learn to meet, 
Must needs bestow 

A love complete. 

What good is love, 

That will not hold 
Us safe above 

Mishaps untold? 

For love that's true 

Doth live for aye; 
Doth oft renew 

Each gladsome day. 

And whether weal, 

Or whether woe. 
The heart must feel 

Love's overflow. 



192 Heartsease 

For life is good, 
And love is fair; 

And things withstood 
Do not impair. 

And love remains 
As lips confess, 

And little pains 
Do not distress. 

For faith has found 
A way for love, 

And love enwoimd 
The soul above. 



IN SPRINGTIME. 

Hast thou seen the budded willows, 
At the margin of the stream, 
Where they bend above the billows, 
With the sunshine all agleam? 

In a while when days are warmer, 
And the ground is free of wets, 
We may find, as in the former 
Years, the fairy violets. 

Even now in every garden, 

One may see the snowdrops bloom, 

Where the frosts no longer harden, 

And the earth is void of gloom. 
193 



1 94 Heartsease 

And the bluebells and the crocus 
Tell us spring at last is here, 
For the winds no more provoke us, 
And the days are full of cheer. 

Everywhere is sprung up beauty, 
From the broad expanse of earth. 
To a life of love and duty, 
To a life alone of worth. 

So should we this springtime morning 
Find within the heart abloom 
Tho'ts of perfect love adorning 
Every outward form of gloom. 

Tho'ts of love to those around us, 
Those with lives so dull and drear, 
As a proof the Lord has found us, 
And endued the heart with cheer. 



EVENING SONG. 

(Abendlied, von Hoffman.) 
Evening comes again! 

Over field and wood 
Quietude of bane 

Rests the world with good. 

Only sings the brook 
O'er its rocky floor, 

Makes a path forsook 
Never, nevermore; 

And no evening brings 

It release of woe. 

Never clock it rings 

Time to rest below. 
IPS 



196 Heartsease 

So in thy distress 

Art thou, heart, bedight, 
Only God can bless 

Thee with rest at night. 



THE FERN. 

What is it here I see ? A fern ? 
No not a fern, but just the form 

Of one impressed upon a stone; 
In ages past, it had its Hfe 
Beside a marshland pool ; and then 

By other herbs it was o'ergrown. 

A change occurred-; the earth was rocked 

As by a mighty god, and down 

Below sank land and fern and all; 

The sea rushed in, and rolled its deep 

Above the creviced earth, as if 

The titan hand of God to thrall. 
197 



198 Heartsease 

The Lord howe'er was in the depth, 
And watched the weakHng fern, lest harm 

Should fall upon his handicraft; 
The soft mud sank, and buried far 
The tiny leaves, that held their shape 

Beneath the course of glacial raft. 

The tons of water pressed the ooze 
Into a solid rock, and then 

Another change befell the fern; 
The sea-floor rent in twain, and forth 
Protruded from the deep a cliff, 

That seemed to smoke and burn. 

And yet no harm befell the, plant; 
But safe within the thicker part 

Each vein and mark of leaf was traced; 



The Fern 199 

And ages after, at the touch 
Of smiting hammer, brake to view, 
As perfect as before implaced. 

If God bestowed such care upon 
A soulless fern, will he not more 

Preserve a man with depth of thought; 
And in the after-time, at touch 
Of Christ's great hammer, bring to view 

The soul of self and all inwrought? 



THE REASON. 

I'll write my love a word or two, 
To tell her how I love her — 

The lass who has no counterpart, 
In all the land, above her. 

For tho' I went the world around. 
In search of handsome faces, 

I'd never find another one, 
With half so many graces. 

And that is why I wooed her long. 
And wooed her with affection — 

I sought a lass devoid of fault, 
And needless of correction. 

200 



The Reason 201 

And so I send a valentine, 

Upon this day of pleasure, 
To tell her she is all I have, 

My choicest, chiefest treasure. 

For only as she lives and loves, 
And cheers me with approval, 

My heart doth venture to effect 
A single woe's removal. 

Let all the best of life depart, 

Let all enjoyment perish, 
A hope would still remain for me. 

If she were left to cherish. 

So shall she be my heart's beloved, 
From season unto season — 

The lass I love with all my heart. 
And all my soul and reason. 



BUTTERCUPS. 

I've a bunch of posies, 

In my room, 
Worth a world of roses, 

I presume. 

Fair they are and tender, 

As they grow. 
On the stalks, so slender, 

In a row. 

Color, bright and golden. 

Precious hue, 

Like a treasure, olden, 

Burst to view. 
2oa 



Buttercups 203 

There is naught so pretty, 

That I know, 
Showing love and pity, 

All aglow. 

Buttercups, so cheery, 

Stay with me, 
When annoyed and weary, 

Need I thee. 

Thou hast charm to gladden 

All the way — 
Scatter woes that sadden 

Me to-day. 



"MY SWEETHEART." 

Who is it that I love, 

With all my heart and reason; 
Who is it that I love, 

Without a tho't of treason? 
My sweetheart! 
My sweetheart ? " Yes, my sweetheart, 

My sweetheart every day; 
As I am pledged his sweetheart — 
His sweetheart?" Yes, his sweetheart, 

His sweetheart all the way. 

Who is it loveth me, 

With love that is unceasing; 

Who is it loveth me. 

With love that is increasing? 

My sweetheart! 
204 



" My Sweetheart " 205 

" My sweetheart ? " Yes, my sweetheart, 
My sweetheart every day; 
As I am pledged his sweetheart — 
"His sweetheart?" Yes, his sweetheart, 
His sweetheart all the way. 

Who is it that I miss. 

When days are bright and cheery; 
Who is it that I miss, 

When everything is dreary? 
My sweetheart! 
"My sweetheart?" Yes, my sweetheart, 
My sweetheart every day; 
As I am pledged his sweetheart — 
" His sweetheart? " Yes, his sweetheart, 
His sweetheart all the way. 



2o6 Heartsease 

Who is it misses me, 

When days are dull or pleasant; 
Who is it misses me, 

And wishes I were present? 
My sweetheart! 
" My sweetheart?" Yes, my sweetheart, 
My sweetheart every day; 
As I am pledged his sweetheart — 
"His sweetheart?" Yes, his sweetheart, 
^ His sweetheart all the way. 

Who is it, tell me pray, 

Whose heart I hold in keeping; 
As he shall hold mine own 

Tho' all the world go weeping? 
My sweetheart! 



" My Sweetheart " 207 

My sweetheart?" Yes, my sweetheart, 

My sweetheart every day; 
As I am pledged his sweetheart — 
His sweetheart ? " Yes, his sweetheart, 

His sweetheart all the way. 



REGRET. 

(Reue, von Paten.) 

How often I wake in the night, in the night, 
And feel myself summoned from bed; 

The highways I leave with their watchers in 
sight, 

I pass with delight, 

In the night, in the night, 

Where arches a door overhead. 

The brook rushes on thro' the shaft in a spite, 

I take myself over the way; 

Deep under me scurry the waves in affright. 

And hurry so light. 

In the night, in the night, 

With never a second's delay. 
208 



Regret 209 

Above in the sky, on the left and the right. 

Are paths for the musical stars, 
Where wanders the moon in a glory of light 
And scatters so bright, 
In the night, in the night, 

Ten thousands of luminous bars. 

I glance at the sky, in the night, in the night, 
And the grass that the dewfall has wet; 

Alas, how the days hurry back at the sight, 

With shadow and light, 

In the night, in the night, 

And censure my heart with regret. 



ARBUTUS. 

Tell me, O flower, 
Deep in the wood; 

Tell me, I pray thee, 
Wonders of good. 

" Hearken, O seeker, 

If thou wouldst know, 
Hearken with patience. 
Bend thine ear low. 

" 'Tis not, O seeker, 
Station or birth, 
Gives one, O seeker, 
Genuine worth. 



Arbutus 211 

" Greatness, O seeker, 
Never is bought; 
Greatness, O seeker, 
Cometh unsought. 

" Wouldst thou, O seeker, 
Find it thine own. 
Search thee, unceasing, 
Wisdom alone — 

" Wisdom, O seeker, 
How thou mayst fill 
Places, O seeker, 
God doth thee will. 

" Thus was it written, 

Ages long past, 
* Often, O seeker. 

First shall be last.* 



212 Heartsease 

" Take then, uiifearing, 
Places thine own ; 
Fill them, O seeker, 
Fill them alone. 

" Greatness, O seeker, 
Then shall be thine, 
Greatness and honor 
Such as are mine." 



RUBIES. 
I love my love and my love loves me^ — 
What more comforting could there be? 

For each of us knows 

How fond love grows, 
When the heart is left to its own will free. 

I love my love and my love loves me — 
What more heartening could there be? 

For each of us shares 

Life's joys and cares 

Held by a faith unswerving and free. 
213 



2 14 Heartsease 

I love my love and my love loves me — 
What more beautiful could there be? 

For each of us feels 

Our affection reveals 
Fountains of solace unsullied and free. 

I love my love and my love loves me, 
With a love as staid as a love could be ; 

For the peace of love, 

That Cometh above. 
Dwells in our hearts of their old selves free. 

I love my love and my love loves me, 
With a love as true as a love could be; 

For the worth of love 

Is a worth above 
Rubies and riches of great degree. 



VOYAGING. 

Across the bar, there sailed afar 

A vessel staunch and true; 
With signal light, and helm aright, 
She held her course by day, by night — 

But whither — only angels knew. 

Ah, every soul was free of dole, 

And life and mirth were strong; 
For in her hold, were bags of gold, 
And treasure more than e'er was told 
In Persia's ancient hoard of wrong. 

Alagk the day, the heart dismay, 

A storm swept o'er the sea ; 

The waters dashed, the lightnings flashed, 

Her oaken plank the reef-rocks gnashed, 

And gored and splintered frightfully. 
215 



2 1 6 Heartsease 

But spite of leak and masthead weak, 

She still kept on her course; 
But ah, how sad were those who had 
So lately sailed with prospect glad, 

Before the wind raged wild and hoarse. 

For who could tell by dip or swell, 

What dangers were before; 
And whether they should meet dismay, 
Or enter port, secure some day. 

To rest in peace forevermore? 

That ship that sailed on course bewailed, 

The ship was of my soul ; 

And whether she unharmed shall be, 
Or sunk beneath a wreck-strewn sea 

The Lord alone can aye control. 



Voyaging 217 

By chart divine, O Soul of mine, 

So sail thy course as given ; 
That tho' the blast reecho past, 
Thy ship may anchor safe at last, 

Within the stormless port of Heaven. 



WEEDS. 

I sowed a seed — some called it weed ; 
I spoke a word, and none gave heed ; 

But in a while, 
The seed became a gorgeous bloom ; 
The word a hope, that lit the gloom 

Of one's exile. 



218 



LILACS. 

Dost thou remember, love, 

The lilac tree of thine, 
Where thou didst promise, love, 

Forever to be mine? 

Its boughs were all ablow, 
And fragrant with perfume, 

And thou, from off its top, 
Didst pluck a sprig of bloom. 

And' gave it me, and said: 

" As sweet as is this bloom, 

I'll be to thee, my love. 

Thro' shadow and thro' gloom." 
219 



220 Heartsease 

And I received it, love, 

And kept it years and years; 

And have it yet, tho' stained 
With many fev'rish tears. 

I wonder, if the tree 

Still findeth standing room; 
And if I came, thou'dst pluck 

Another sprig of bloom, 

And give it me, and say: 
" As sweet as is this bloom, 

I'll be to thee, my love. 

Thro' shadow and thro' gloom.' 

And raise those lips of thine, 

As if to seal the vow. 
That I confess, O love, 

Should still be holding now, 



Lilacs 221 



And would it had, for I 

Am sad, and sick, and lone, 

And there is none to care, 

How much my heart may moan. 

No little hand to steal 

Itself into mine own ; 
No little lips to say — 

" Thy sweetheart, love, alone." 

I've half a mind to send 
The blossom back of thine; 

And ask if thou again 

Wouldst promise to be mine. 

For there is none, O love, 

I miss as I do thee ; 
No other life, O love. 

That means so much to me, 



222 Heartsease 

Then take the bloom, O love, 
And answer as is best; 

For only thou, O love. 
Canst quiet this unrest. 

Canst steal into my heart, 

With blessings of thine own; 

Canst comfort all my life. 
And be my love alone. 



ADOWN THE OLDEN AGES. 

(Aus alten Marchen, von Heine.) 

Adown the olden ages, 
There becks a palHd hand, 
That mages and presages 
Of an enchanted land, — 

Where gorgeous flowers languish 
Beneath the evening light, 
And view, with lovelorn anguish, 
Themselves so fair bedight, — 

Where all the trees have voices, 

And sing, as in a choir. 

And every brook rejoices 

With music of desire; 
223 



224 Heartsease 

And sounds of love are thronging, 
That all thy sense intrude, 
And wondrous thrills of longing 
Thee wondrously delude. 

Ah could I therein enter. 
Devoid of every bane, 
And ease the sad heart's centre 
Of all its grief and pain ! 

The land of lands the fairest. 
That see I oft in dream; 
When comes a ray, the rarest. 
It melts like foam astream. 



HOME. 

Home is where the heart is, 
In all the world around; 

And each may call that home his, 
Wherein his heart is found. 

A palace is a grand thing, 
But it may not be a home; 

Love some day may take wing, 
Otherwhere to roam. 

.Exactions of the world drive 
The duties of love out ; 

Worldly things the hands strive, 
Thinking them devout. 

335 



226 Heartsease 

But the heart, that's true made, 

Centers in the home ; 
Keeps itself content stayed, 

Desires no more to roam. 

What it has of good gifts, 
Are showered free therein; 

It findeth time to make rifts 
Thro' every cloud of sin. 

A cottage deems it far more 
Than castled walls of stone — 

And love, than praise that gilds o'er 
The bleeding hearts that moan. 

If there is any peace left, 
Unhallowed man to bless, 

'Tis found within the home-cleft, 
Devoid of selfishness. 



Home 227 

God meant the home a place planned, 

With loves inviolate — 
A sort of taste beforehand 

Of heaven's perfect state. 

Home is where the heart is, 

In all the world around; 
And each should make that home his. 

Wherein his heart is found. 



" WITH HER HANDS." 

Love hath many ways of showing, 
That her heart delights in sowing 
Kindly deeds along the way. 

Often is it softened glances, 
Over life's unlit expanses, 
To dispel the soul's dismay. 

Often lip-touch sympathetic, 
Proving faith with love kinetic, 
Tho' dissevered land on lands. 

But when wrongs are to be righted. 

Deeds of heart to be requited, 

Then she labors with her hands. 
228 



"With Her Hands" 229 

Eyes are soft and lips are cheery, 
When the body is aweary ; 

But they can not think or plan. 

So she helps to meet the trials 
With a work of self-denials, 
As alone a trueheart can. 



BLESSING. 

A blessing have I good and true 
For every woe that may ensue, 

Whereof each place gains hue and grace 
To charm the sight with vision new. 

Then let bechance, what God may will ; 
My lips shall praise, tho' fair or ill ; 

The worst of wrong can not last long, 
With such a blessing with me still. 



230 



THORNS AND THISTLES. 

Is't hard to work? 'Twere strange if not; 
For man must toil and grief abide; 
And why ? The soul is cased in flesh, 
And must of dross be purified. 

Wherefore, we know not why; but God 
Will make it manifest some day; 
The heart is weighed by sins of years, 
And must from doubt to faith essay. 

Perhaps, because the primal sin 

Finds lodging allwhere in man's heart; 

And there is need, tho' great the pain, 

To make it thence with force depart. 
231 



232 Heartsease 

Or chance the soul is Hke a ship, 
That's builded strong by master hands; 
It needeth trial before it sails, 
Where lieth ports of unknown lands. 

Distress and trouble, toil and care; 

A little rest and work again; 

A little time to ease the load 

That chafes us sore with smart and pain. 

Such is his word : a man must strive 
With might and main the whole day round, 
Or thorns and thistles choke the wheat, 
Before it shows above the ground. 

Who knows ? Not thou nor I ; but God. 
Shall we thereon then doubt and shirk? 
Not so; but up with strength of will, 
And find some good in every work. 



Thorns and Thistles 233 

And feel when all our work is done, 
How sweet a thing it is to rest; 
And tho' unseen, yet clear as day, 
The things that hurt are for the best. 



REMORSE. 

Scold a lassie? 

Never, never! 
For I love her 

True as ever. 

Lips may chide her 
For her doing; 

In my heart is 
Sense of ruing — 

Ruing for the 

Tear-drops welling, 

For the heart with 

Grievance swell ing- 
234 



Remorse 235 

For the feeling 

All aquiver, 
Like a troubled 

Wind-swept river — 

For the future, 

For the present, 
For the days that 

Chance unpleasant. 

But withal my 

Heart is praying, 
God to give her 

Peace allaying — 

And vouchsafe us 

Such affection, 
Heart from heart shall 

Find protection. 



THE RING. 

(Der Ring, von Griin.) 

I sat upon a mountain, 
Away up in the sky; 
Far under me were hummocks, 
And vales and fields of rye. 

In dream from off my finger 
I took the ring I wore, 
Which she, of love a token, 
Gave me in years afore. 

Before my eyes I held it. 

As one would hold a glass, 

And thro' the circle looked I 

At meadow and morass. 
236 



The Ring 237 

Ho, grassy-covered mountains, 
And yellow grain so bright, 
Within a frame so pretty, 
Forsooth a pretty sight ! 

Here cozy houses shimmer, 
Upon the mountain side; 
There scythes and sickles glimmer 
Along the river wide. 

And farther on the lowlands. 
Wherein the river flows, 
And farther still the mountains 
A granite wall impose. 

And towns with shiny steeples 
And woods of leafy green, 
Before my yearning senses 
With wonder intervene. 



238 Heartsease 

The gleaming earth and heaven, 
The people and the land 
Continue just as long, 
As by my ring enspanned. 

Oh fairest sight of all, 
The ring of love surrounds, 
The glowing earth and heaven 
And all therein abounds. 



UNSEEN FORCES. 

How many years have waned, 

Since these same rocks 

Were molten fire — 

How many since, upon the floor 

Of the great ocean, they lay 

Deposited by incoming streams — 

How many more 

Since upon a mountain peak 

This part or that 

Made up the petal 

Of a fair-hued flower? 

Yea, years and years 

Of ages dark and strange; 

Strong forces have prevailed. 

What once was flower — 
239 



240 Heartsease 

Was mud, 

Is now become a solid rock, 
Fit to be the corner stone 
Of some great cathedral. 

Within the world of man 
As great forces are at work. 
We know not how nor why; 
For that is hid from all, 
And rests in God. 
The " selves," we fancy ours. 
Are but the working out 
Of olden things for good. 

The virtues of a thousand years 

Have come and gone, 

Disappeared and been refound — 

Nothing true is lost ! 

But age after age it lives, 

Grows stronger like the earthen rock; 



Unseen Forces 241 

And after many years 

Of toil and rest, 

And peace and woe, 

Becomes the chief stone 

In the tabernacle of the world. 

Work on then, men and women, 

With hearts of hope; 

These same forces. 

That bear us up and down, 

Some day shall bring 

Us all reward 

For what we do to help 

The working out 

Of God's great plan for good. 



BOLTS AND BARS. 

My love is hid in a castle stout, 
With strong defences around about; 
And doors of oak, and locks of steel 
Securely her face and form conceal. 

Ah, she is a princess born to be, 

But I a peasant of low degree; 

Yet love entwines, with a silken chain. 

Our hearts too close to be cleft in twain. 

Some call it folly, some call it sin, 

A creature so base should venture to win 

A maiden the fairest of all in the land, 

With treasure and earldoms at her command. 
242 



Bolts and Bars 243 

But whether it's right, or whether it's wrong, 
No other can hold me a whole life long; 
No other can charm me, and fashion a home, 
With paths leading inward from forest and 
foam. 

What reck I their judgments — the writs they 

call laws — 
The social distinctions, void reason and cause? 
I only am conscious — I love her so true, 
Without her my heart would be shadowed with 

rue. 

Last night from her tower, with ivy o'ergrown, 
Where faintly the light of the silver moon 

shone, 
I saw with distinctness the face of my love. 
With eyelids as soft as the plume of a dove. 



144 Heartsease 

Lightly she sang — " Where art thou to-night? 
The stars are above us, the moonbeams are 

bright; 
Then haste to the sweetheart who waits thee 

alone, 
Who waits the glad moment will make her 

thine own." 

What could I do ? I cried in despair, 
I threw off my helmet, I clutched at my hair; 
In anguish I cried — O God, is there none 
To pity a trothplight so basely undone? 

But little I care for their knightmen in mail, 
I'll break up their forces, my heart shall not 

quail ; 
I'll smite them with steel, I'll fight my way thro' 
Where waits in her prison my sweetheart so 

true. 



Bolts and Bars 245 

Already the warm blood courses hot thro' my 

arm, 
My muscles grow harder, I laugh at alarm; 
The world may oppose me, I'll brave every foe, 
My falchion, thrice tried, shall lay them all low. 

Away then, ye bolts, ye turrets and door, 
Whereon my poor hands with beating are 

sore — 
What! Will they not move? They must — 

they must; 
A heart is too precious to draggle in dust. 

I'll pound them with iron, with beams of strong 

. brass, 
I'll break thro' the gateway, and swim the 

morass; 
And up the great tower I'll cHmb and not stay 
Until I have found her, and borne her away — 



246 Heartsease 

Across the broad ocean where rumor is rife — 
A love that is true is a wellspring of Hfe; 
And sweeter and deeper it grows with the time, 
As somewhile is written in volumes of rime. 

And on that glad moment the earth may dis- 
solve, 
A world of our own on content shall revolve; 
And love like a flower shall blossom all day 
In the hearts of us both forever and aye. 



HOPE. 

Is hope a dream ? " No, not a dream 
Of things too wan to be or seem — 
A vision is it bright and true, 
Of good beforetime brought to view; 
Of good that shall in God's day be 
A portion of life's destiny. 



247 



SOME PEACE. 

The words are said, 

Our hearts are wed, 
So closely knit together. 

They'll stay the same. 

In deed and name, 
Thro' every wind and weather. 

What if the snow 

Shall cut and blow. 

Across the distant mountain? 

The keenest cold 

Need not infold 

A single love-filled fountain. 
248 



Some Peace 249 

Our hearts are strong, 

To meet the wrong, 
With faith too true to falter; 

The Hght of love 

Shines far above 
From every homemade altar. 

And day by (day 

Without dismay 
We'll live our lives together; 

And find some peace 

To make surcease 
Of e'en the roughest weather. 



SEPTEMBER. 

The year is fading fast, 
The wind is cold and chill; 

A sullen, wintry blast 

Sweeps down from every hill. 

A few belated bloom 

Are all that greet the eye; 

A misty stretch of gloom 
Shuts in the sunless sky. 

The aster blossoms droop. 

The golden-rod is pale; 

The birds in wand'ring group 

Abandon wood and vale. 
250 



September 251 

The outside world is cold, 

Devoid of refuge warm; 
Destruction's hand clings hold 

Of every living form. 

But in the world within, 
The world we call the new, 

The wind doth not begin 
To find a passage thro'. 

And so until the spring, 

And till it comes again. 
The soul of love shall sing. 

Despite the wind and rain. 



THE GRAVE. 

(Das Grab, von Salis.) 

The grave is deep and silent, 
And yawns its awful door; 
With gloomy shade it covers 
The land that lies before. 

There comes, across its bosom, 
No sound of nightingale; 
The fiow'rs of friendship only 
Bestrew its moss^ pale. 

Forsaken brides with wailing 

The woeful place surround — 

No cry of orphans enters 

The stillness of the ground. 
252 



The Grave 253 

Earth has no refuge giving 
The worn a place of rest; 
'Tis only past its portals, 
Men find the region blest. 

My weary heart, environed 
By every storm that breaks, 
Longs only for its silence 
Where no discomfort wakes. 



PRESS ON. 

Think'st thou the babbHng throng can change 

The issue of a single day? 

Can add one cubit to the way, 
That leads us on thro' regions strange? 

The eye of God is over all, 

And as he led his little band, 
From Egypt to the promised land, 

So now he leads whate'er befall, 

Ofttimes a burning stretch of sand 

•The weary feet must journey o'er^ 

Fear not — Jehovah walks before, 

He knows how much the flesh can stand. 
254 



Press On 255 

Speed on then, Heart, devoid of fear, 
Despite the Red Sea's hollow roar; 
The land of Canaan lies before, 

Press on, O Heart, and persevere. 



THE BLUEBIRD. 

I heard a bluebird sing, 
Quite early in the morning, 

Before the rosy sun 

The heavens was adorning : 

" Awake — awake — awake ! 

'Tis not the time of resting; 
It is — it is — it is — 

It is the time of nesting ! " 

A voice at once responded: 

" My eyes are open wide, 

And I am just as ready 

To labor at thy side." 
256 



The Bluebird 257 

" Then hurry — hurry — hurry, 
And find a cozy tree, 

Where winds forget to flurry, 
As far as we can see ! " 

" We'll build ourselves a house, 

And it shall be our home; 
And from beneath its roof, 

We'll never care to roam — 

Away — away — away, 
Beyond the pale of grief. 

We'll fashion us a dwelling 
Beneath a maple leaf." 

And then afar they flew, 

Beyond the distant mountain; 

And builded them a home, 
Beside a crystal fountain ; 



258 Heartsease 

And there for years and years, 
Devoid of all resentment, 

They lived a life of love, 
And lived it with contentment. 

So wedded hearts should fashion 
Themselves a home for aye; 

And live a life of love. 
And live it every day — 
Not as the world may fancy, 

But as the heart approves; 
For love within the home 



To best advantage moves. 



LITTLE FEET. 

Whose little feet are those, I hear 
Trotting along in the hallway near ? — 
Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pat ! 

Seems to me I have heard them before, 
Pattering up to open the door — 
Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pat ! 

Certain I am, I could tell those feet. 

Hid in a crowd, by the rythm they beat — 

Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pat ! 

Pick your way, little feet, with care, 

Tumble not down on the hall floor bare — 

Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pat ! 
259 



26o Heartsease 

God vouchsafe, for those feet so soft, 
Highways of peace to the world aloft — 
Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pat ! 

Guard them and guide them thro' every dismay, 
Keeping them safe in their journeys each day — 
Pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pitty-pat, pat ! 



THE BEST LOVE. 

The last love's the best love, 
Whatever men may say; 

The last love's the true love, 
Abiding all the way. 

The last love's the good love. 
The love that lives for aye; 

The last love's the strong love. 
And fadeth not away. 

But some say the first love 

Should be adjudged the best. 

And the heart, that forgets it, 

Shall fill an aching breast. 
261 



262 Heartsease 

But the last love's the first love, 
The first love is the last; 

For that's all is predestined 
Each in the world so vast. 

The rest are but false loves, 
But glimmers of the true, 

A light on the dawn-clouds 
Before the sun breaks thro'. 

The last love's the best love, 
Whatever may befall; 

The last love's the true love, 
The only love at all. 



MIGNON. 

(Mignon, von Goethe.) 

Ken'st thou the land of lemon tree bloom — 
Orange-fruit gleam, midst foliage gloom? 
Softest of wind from heavenward vnngs ; 
Myrtle below, but aloft laurel clings. 
Ken'st thou it well ? 

Away! O, away! 
Would I with thee, my truest one, stray. 

Ken'st thou the house with pillarets tall, 

Poising the roof of shimmering hall? 

There is a bust that asketh of me : 

" How, poor child, doth the world use thee? " 

Ken'st thou it well ? 

Away! O, away! 

Would I with thee, my guardian, stray. 
263 



264 Heartsease 

Ken'st thou the mount with cloud-covered 

steep, 
Whither the mules thro' mistiness creep? 
There is the lair of the evil one's brood, 
Rending the rocks where waters exude. 
Ken'st thou it well ? 

Away! O, away! 
WouM I with thee, my father, essay. 



A FACE. 

From the country of the southland 

There comes a shadowed face, 
With a likeness half revealing 
The fancy-holten grace 
Of a maiden, 
Fully laden 
With the beauty of the race. 

Oft it comes in moonlit hour, 

When the shadows strew the ground, 

And the list'ner hardly heareth 

The quaintly mystic sound 

Of the fairies. 

As he tarries 

In the evening hush profound. 
265 



S6 Heartsease 

There is healing in her glances, 

And comfort in her hand, 
Soothing me till quite forgetful 
Of life's unstaying sand, 
Ever telling, 
Ever knelling 
The years across the strand. 



ROSES. 

Choosest thou the red rose, bkishing out delight, 
Rather than the pink rose, fading into white? 
Roses are but symbols, passing in a day; 
Nothing but the meaning has a chance to stay. 

Cherish then the roses, and the tho't they give, 
Let it ever after in thy bosom live ; 
Let it be a token of thy love for me, 
Of the love, I also offer unto thee. 

Then in after moments, when thou shalt behold 

Faded bits of rose leaves, crumbling into mold. 

They shall be exalted, just as they impart 

Something of the feeling, welling in the heart. 
267 



A GIFT. 

A pansy bloom for thee, 

Just gathered from the garden, 

That thou mayst think of me, 
With gracious love and pardon. 

And here a poppy too, 
That thou forget the evil, 

That sometimes tempts the true 
With scarce a chance reprieval. 

'Tis easy for the eye 

To mark the cankered petal ; 

'Tis easy to descry 

The brambly thorn and nettle. 
268 



A Gift 269 

But harder far to see, 

In spite of imperfection, 
The good in some degree 

That waits the world's inspection. 

The good I have is thine, 

And shall be thine forever; 
The evil — that is mine, 

And must aggrieve thee never. 

Then marvel not, the two 

Together bound I proffer; 
But hold the meaning true 

That with their bloom I offer. 



BON VOYAGE. 

On the great blue ocean sailing, 
With her canvas white as snow, 
Rides a vessel, slowly paling 
In the distant twilight, failing 
To disclose her mast or railing. 
As the shadows darker grow. 

Canst thou tell the fate before her, 

What the future has in store? 

Will the sun of morn shine o'er her; 

Will the Lord to friends restore her; 

Or upon the rocks that gore her, 

Will she sink to rise no more? 
270 



Bon Voyage 271 

Ah, we know not what is fated 

Ships that sail by stars above; 

But for those aboard them freighted, 
Spite of storms that have belated, 
Shall be found a harbor, waited 

In the kingdom of God's love. 



THE MINSTREL'S CURSE. 

(Des Sanger's Fluch, von Uhland.) 

There stood, in other ages, a castle high and 
free. 

Far shone it o'er the country, till on the dark 
blue sea; 

And round about its portals, the fairest flow- 
ers bloomed; 

And bordered every fountain, that rainbow 
hues assumed. 

There sat a haughty monarch, in land and 

glory hale. 

Who sat upon his throne-chair, so gloomy 

and so pale; 

272 



The Minstrel's Curse 273 

For what he thinks is horror, and what he 

feels is hate, 
And what he speaks is vengeance, and what 

he writes is fate. 

Once traveled to this castle a noble minstrel 
pair, 

The one with golden tresses, the other gray 
of hair; 

With harp in hand, the elder sat on his nim- 
ble steed. 

That strode beside the other, with briskness, 
o'er the mead. 

Then spake the elder lightly : " Let there be 

no delay ! 
Our fairest ballads ponder, the harp attune 

to play; 



274 Heartsease 



Put all our charms together, the fair and evil 



too, 
To-day it is our duty to melt the monarch's 
rue." 

Soon stand the minstrel players beneath the 

pillared hall, 
Where king and queen are sitting upon the 

throne-chair tall; 
The king in stately hauteur, as when the 

north-lights spin. 
The queen as fair and gentle as seems the 

moon therein. 

The minstrel struck the harp-strings and 

struck so merrily, 
That richer, never richer was mortal melody; 



The Minstrers Curse 275 

Then sang the youth with cadence, all heaven 

would admire, 
While ever plays the elder as plays a spirit 

choir. 

They sing of love and summer, the blissful, 

golden time, 
Of liberty and honor, of faith and holy rime ; 
They sing of all delightful, that human 

■ hearts desire, 
They sing of all ennobling that human 

breasts inspire. 

The courtiers, in attendance, forget their 

wonted jeers; 
The monarch's burly warriors are moved to 

girlish tears; 



276 Heartsease 

The queen, in mercy melting, is filled with 

strange unrest, 
And flings the minstrel players the roses from 

her breast. 

" Ye have my folk corrupted, delude ye now 

my wife? " 
The monarch cries in anger, he shakes from 

inward strife; 
He hurls his gleaming dagger, and wounds 

the minstrel sore, 
So where before was music, now blood has 

crimsoned o'er. 

The courtiers straight are vanished as in the 

whirlwind's crest ; 
And dead the youth is lying upon his master's 

breast ; 



The MinstreFs Curse 277 

Who winds him in his mantle, and sets him 

on his steed; 
He binds him there upsitting, and forth the 

two proceed. 

But first, within the gateway, straight halts 
the minstrel gray; 

He hurls his harp so priceless, the harp of 
harps to-day; 

And there beside the pillar a woeful wreck it 
lies; 

And then with accents direful, this maledic- 
tion cries : 

Woe you, ye haughty hallways! No more 
shall voices sweet 

Be heard within you longer, no more the min- 
strel meet; 



278 Heartsease 

Naught but the sound of sobbing, and fearful 

tread of slaves, 
Till you the vengeful spirit hurls down to 

mould'ring graves. 

" Woe you, ye flow'ry gardens, with ever fra- 
grant breath ! 

For now I shovv^ these features, disfigured all 
in death, 

That you in seeing wither, that every fount 
run dry. 

That you in coming ages stone-laid, dis- 
mantled lie. 

" Woe thee, thou fiendish creature, thou curse 
of minstrel lore! 
In vain are all thy garlands, blood-damped 
with loathsome gore; 



The Minstrel's Curse 279 

Thy name shall be forgotten, in endless night 

immersed, 
And like the deathful rattle upon the air ac- 
cursed." 

The minstrel's voice is silent, a flash distorts 

the sky; 
The towers downward tumble, the halls in 

ruins lie; 
And stands one column only of all that rich 

array, 
And that already broken, may fall ere break 

of day. 

And now instead of flowers, a heather waste 

is seen; 
No brook with kindly music, no tree with 

friendly green; 



gSo Heartsease 

The monarch's name is mentioned in neither 
prose nor verse; 

Forsaken and forgotten! Such is the min- 
strel's curse. 



PATIENT ENDURANCE. 

He that hath patience hath treasure untold; 
Something to keep him when friendship is 

cold; 
Something when living and loving are hard; 
Something when evils unnumbered retard. 

Patience is God-like — a virtue most rare, 
Given to those who have learned to forbear; 
Given to those who, in spite of distress, 
Shelter the homeless and comfort and bless. 

Would there were more in the world, who 

possessed 

Patient endurance for every unrest ; 

More who could whisper, regardless of grief, 

God in his mercy vouchsafes us relief." 
281 



282 Heartsease 

Honor is not in avoiding a strife, 
But in accepting, and fighting for life. 
Strong in the faith, that the Lord will provide 
Courage for all of the woes that betide. 

Deep in the bosom there whispers a voice — 
" Gird on thy armor, be strong and rejoice; 
Virtue shall conquer, however fast bound. 
Error be struck like a thief to the ground." 

On then and upward with strength for the 

right, 
Patient to strive, till the rest-time of night, 
Patient to struggle, in spite of defeat, 
Till we have won, and our work is complete. 



THE LILY. 

There is told a wondrous story 

Of a lily white and fair ; 
How it blooms, with undimmed glory, 

In a dust-polluted air. 

All things else are soiled and sooty, 
With the touch of coal unclean ; 

Yet the lily in its beauty 

Chastely fair and pure is seen. 

Not a spot, upon its petals, 

Mars its virgin purity; 

Every fleck, that downward settles, 

To the ground slips harmlessly. 
283 



284 Heartsease 

In such wise are souls created, 
If the world but stops to see; 

Righteousness o'er all is rated; 
Death itself comes harmlessly. 

Like the lily of the story, 

Freed of every spot and stain, 

Clad in garbs of pristine glory, 
We shall enter God's domain. 

And the present sin and sadness. 
From the good shall fall away, 

Leaving faith, and truth, and gladness, 
Conquerors of all dismay. 



HUSH-A-BY. 

Hush-a-by, hiish-a-by ! 

Baby mine, 
Numberless beautiful 

Dreams be thine; 
Mother is shielding thee 

From unrest, 
Slumber confidingly 

On her breast. 

Hush-a-by, hush-a-by! 

Close thine eyes, 
Waken not up till the 

Sun doth rise; 
Fairies of sleepy-land 

Wait for thee; 

Hasten, but come in the 

Morn to me. 
285 



286 Heartsease 

Hush-a-by, hush-a-by! 

Sweet thy rest, 
Slumbering close on thy 

Mother's breast; 
Nothing disquieting 

Shall thee harm; 
Angels are guarding thee 

From alarm. 

Hush-a-by, hush-a-by! 

Baby mine, 
Numberless beautiful 

Dreams be thine; 
Dreams of the future all 

Fair and bright, 
Dreams that thy mother too 

Dreams each night, 



REST. 

(Friede, von Sturm.) 
No breeze bestirs the flowers, 

The birds in slumber sit; 
Thro' all the darksome hours, 

The clouds in silence flit. 

Ten thousand stars are shining, 

A-twinkle in the air; 
The golden moon is lining 

The earth beyond compare. 

And so if rest be given, 

My soul must find it here ; 

Where every sound is riven. 

And nature fills with cheer, 
287 



THE OAK. 

Beneath a moss-grown tree I sit; 
The fleecy clouds above me flit; 
And now and then I hear the cry 
Of woodland birds unseen and shy. 

Below me, like a weaver's thread, 
The river flows with winding bed ; 
While over on the further side 
The dreamy hamlet is descried. 

O Druid Oak, above whose head 

The centuries have come and fled, 

Tell me, if ever thou hast known 

A fairer sight than here is shown. 
288 



The Oak 289 

Tell me, from out the garnered past, 
The choicest memories thou hast — 
Of forest chief and maiden fair, 
Of skies of blue, and days most rare. 

Ah me, what change ! and yet yon stream, 
For ages past, the same did seem ; 
And here beneath thy broad-armed shade, 
The never-ceasing shadows played. 

So round and round the cycles roll 
Their endless wheel of joy and dole ; 
And ages hence this selfsame sight 
Another dreamer may delight. 



VIOLET. 

Violet, violet, 
Fair little bloom. 
Hid in the grasses. 
When the wind passes, 
Snug is thy room. 

Violet, violet, 
Shy little maid, 
Close by the river, 
God, the Great Giver, 
Doth thee pervade. 

Violet, violet, 

Blue as the sky, 

What is thy mission; 

What the condition. 

Thou dost supply? 
290 



Violet 291 

Violet, violet, 
Sweet little face, 
Seeming not weary, 
Constantly cheery, 
Filling thy place. 

Violet, violet, 
Teach me thy ways, 
Never o'erfearful, 
Making lives cheerful. 
Endless of days. 



BETROTHAL. 

Said I to my love — Will you wear this ring ? 
" Why not — she said — why ask such a thing? " 

Will you always wear it ? — again said I ; 
" Of course — she answered — until I die." 

Will you never regret it ? — once more I said ; 
" Never — her answer — tho' long we're wed." 

But I am poor, and of low estate — 

" Gladly — she said — will I love and wait." 

So on her finger the ring I drew, 

Which still she wears, as she promised to do. 



292 



A PANSY. 

Sweetheart, take this pansy, 
Wear it on thy breast; 

Let it to thee token 
Him, thou lovest best. 

When the russet morning 
Brightened into view, 

From its place I phicked it, 
Covered o'er with dew. 

Thou mayst hear it whisper — 

" Some one thinks of thee, 

Thinks of thee unceasing, 

Oh, so tenderly ! " 
293 



294 Heartsease 

When its petals wither. 
Cast it not aside; 

Cherish it forever, 
Bonny Httle bride. 

When thy hair is silvered 
With the moments gone, 

It will hold in keeping 
Something of life's dawn. 

Still thy heart may hear it 
Whisper unto thee — 
" Some one thinks of thee yet, 
Oh, so tenderly ! " 



LULLABY. 

By-o, baby, close those eyes, 
God is watching over you; 

Never mind the wind that cries, 
" Boo-oo, 00-00, oo-oo, 00 ! " 

Tuck the comfort round your chin, 
Snuggle up as birdies do; 

We'll not let the cold winds in — 
" Boo-oo, 00-00, 00-00, 00 ! " 

Far above I see a star, 

Way up in the stilly blue ; 

" Peace " — it says to winds that war, 

" Boo-oo, 00-00, oo-oo, 00 ! " 
295 



296 Heartsease 

Like a thing of life, the moon 
Creeps above the hills in view; 

Silent all, save winds that croon, 
" Boo-00, 00-00, 00-00, 00 ! " 

By-o, baby, close those eyes, 
God is watching over you; 

Never mind the wind that cries, 
" Boo-00, 00-00, 00-00, 00 ! " 



LITTLE MOTHER. 

Little mother, chief of blessing; 
Choice of all, lips are confessing; 
How I long to have thee present; 
See thy face, so fair and pleasant. 

Oft I wonder what thy fancies, 
What the future so enhances; 
For I know that love is waking — 
Mother love that has no breaking. 

When betrothed, I said, " I love thee; " 

Tho't that there was none above thee ; 

But the love that now I give thee, 

Heart of hearts, shall long outlive thee. 
297 



298 Heartsease 

Always kind and good and careful 
For our little home most prayerful ; 
As a blessing past all other, 
Now I hold thee, little mother. 

God vouchsafe that no disquiet 
In thy life shall e'er run riot; 
But that every task and duty 
Have for thee some tinge of beauty. 

And as sweetheart, wife or mother, 
Let me love thee as none other; 
Let me love thee, guard and cherish, 
Till the soul itself shall perish. 



SERENADE. 

Ah, would I were yon silver moon, 

In starlit canopy; 
I'd whisper thee the dream of love, 

That somewhile comes to me; 
I'd tell thee thou art all I have 

In this great world below; 
And were it not I had thy love, 

I would not live — oh, no! 

Ah, would I were the great bright sun, 

That shines so brilliantly ; 
I'd tell thee o'er the selfsame tale, 

So oft I've told to thee; 
I'd tell thee that I cherish thee, 

As never yet before; 

And every tho't I think these days 

Concerns thee more and more. 
299 



300 Heartsease 

Ah, would I were the httle rose, 

That nestles on thy breast; 
I'd woo thy soul from worriment, 

To perfect peace and rest; 
I'd steal into that heart of thine, 

And let my fragrance spread; 
I'd kiss those tired lips and eyes. 

As on the day we wed. 

Ah, would I were the humblest thing, 

That thou dost touch or see; 
I'd love thee with a love as sweet, 

As ever love may be; 
I'd take thee in these arms of mine, 

Where thou so oft hast lain ; 
And lull thee to forgetfulness 

Of every grief and pain. 



SLUMBER SONG. 
Dimple toe, white toe, 

Toes that are red, 
Cover them up quick, 

Warm in the bed. 

DayHght is waning 
Darkness is here, 

Sleep, little love-child, 
Mother is near. 

When the sun rises. 

Then you can play; 

Laugh and be happy, 

All the long day. 
301 



302 Heartsease 

Dimple toe, white toe, 
Toes that are red, 

Cover them up quick. 
Warn] in the bed. 



TWILIGHT. 

Ruddy is the morning, 
All ablush with light, 

Rosy is the even 

Just before the night. 

Quiet is the river, 
Motionless the trees, 

Not a breeze is stirring, 
Go where'er we please. 

Every spot is pleasant, 

Come, my love, with me, 

Let us walk together 

By the dark blue sea. 
303 



304 Heartsease 

'Tis the time of twilight, 
When the mists arise, 

Shutting out the shoreHne 
That before us lies. 

Where the river empties. 

In the ocean wide. 
For a bit we'll tarry, 

Sitting side by side. 

There if thou wouldst listen 

To a story old, 
I will whisper to thee 

Something yet untold. 

Something that will make thee 

Rosy as the sky — 
Make thy heart beat faster, 

Just to have me nigh. 



Twilight 305 

Ruddy is the morning, 

All ablush with light, 
Rosy is the even 

Just before the night. 



PROMISE. 

When the woods are dyed with scarlet, 

And with russet hue and gold; 
And the fields are gray and barren, 

And the winds are icy cold ; 
Tell me, sweetheart, tell me truly, 

Dost thou love me more or less, 
Than in days of summer sunshine. 

When thy love thou didst confess? 

Spring is called the time of beauty. 

When the world itself doth wake, 

Mantles o'er with grass and flower 

Every meadow land and brake; 
306 



Promise 307 

Yet methinks the fall were fairer, 

If thou still dost joy to say 
That thy faith in me grows stronger 

With the passing of each day. 

Let us walk the fields together, 

Where the sunlight still is warm ; 
To discover if destruction 

Hath denuded every form; 
And if troth and promise vanished. 

On the selfsame summer day, 
When the crimson roses withered. 

And the lilies died away. 

Thus I tho't it would be proven, 

Life is not entirely fled, 
Tho' the elms are clothed in saffron 

And the maple trees in red; 



3o8 Heartsease 

By the roadside still are blooming 
Spikes of yellow golden-rod ; 

And the purple gentian blossoms 
Lift a smiling face to God. 

And I hear, in sunny places, 

On the southern sloping hill, 
Songs of birds, with joyance singing, 

Void of every sense of ill ; 
Glad they seem as in the springtime. 

When the snows are passed away; 
And the downy, catkined willows 

In the balmy zephyrs sway. 

So it shall be in our lifetime. 

When the spring and summer flee ; 

Love shall clothe herself in crimson, 
And in silvern purity; 



Promise 309 

And along the path shall flourish, 

Tho' the skies be dull and gray, 
Aster bloom and gentian blossom, 

As a promise day by day. 



kQ ^ 



4 190^ 



MAR 21 1902 

t COPY DEI. lOCAT.Lfv. 
f/lAR. 21 1902 

ftlAR. 26 {902 



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